


Redemption

by akaKarma



Series: Redemption [1]
Category: Metro 2033 - All Media Types
Genre: Bisexual Artyom, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexuality, Canon Related, Closeted Character, Complete, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, First Time, Forgiveness, Frottage, Guilt, Homosexuality, M/M, Making Love, Male Homosexuality, Partyom - Freeform, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Canon, Psychological Trauma, Relationship(s), Second Chances, Sex, Sex in later chapters, Slow Burn, Smut, good ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-08-19 05:05:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 62,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8191297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akaKarma/pseuds/akaKarma
Summary: Story taking place after "good ending" of Metro Last Light. 95% of the story acording to canon. Main point is Artyom's and Pavel's reunion after events at the end of the game and from there, a lot of things will happen, unexpected will unfold and characters will grow.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone welcome to my new obsession! I have played Metro Last Light when it came out, but recently I decided to play again and totally fell for it AGAIN. This time, since my little shipping problem has been progressively worse and worse, I couldn't ignore this great chemistry between Artyom and Pavel and... this happened. 
> 
> Small details of game canon are changed (you will notice in the story) but other than that story goes after canon finish. There is going to be graphic sex (nothing crazy, just nice and detailed) eventually. I like taking my time. 
> 
> Please read my notes about this whole story at the end and definitely let me know your opinions!

 

It was five months ago now...  
  
Five months from the moment Artyom fought against Reds, defending the D6. Five months ago from the possible destruction of such massive proportions Metro hasn't seen in years. Five months from when that little Dark One saved all of them.

Maybe it seemed almost unbeliavable at first but life started to fall back into the old ways pretty quickly. Of course, there was still little more hostility from the Reds and especially from other stations towards them. It was still chaotic mainly at the Red Line, and others were still scared of war, but on the other hand, everyone knew nothing bad will happen for a while because all sides had to garther their strenght again. After all that, people wanted to feel safe just for a moment, not to start another war.

It was strange.

Going through D6 and accepting new missions. With no demons of past haunting Artyom, he almost felt this strange emptiness. Being Ranger still very much fulfilled him, of course, but there was no rush of world collapsing around him and he kinda missed that, no matter how bizzare that was.

But he wasn't alone, no. The Little One and others left, but soon after he realized that the kid made strange bond with him and he wasn't able to completely leave.

Maybe without others knowing or maybe with permission, he would talk to Artyom from time to time. Sometimes about his missions, giving him needed advice or just helping him make his life easier. Other times he would just talk to him when he's in his room before sleep – telling him how he's doing, that he's happy with others and growing. He would never give too many details about where they are or what are they doing, but it was nice to have this one friend, to know the little Dark One didn't forget about him. After some time, Artyom got used to sudden voice in his head from time to time and it became something familiar, calming force in a way.

 

As it always is, only four months after the incident, old ways started to return back to Metro. Stations tried to accept as much refugees as they could since their numbers got even higher with so many people disagreeing with Red Line's plan and being scared of what else are they capable of. Even Hansa was pushed to take more people in. Thanks to that, bandits started to get confident again, doing bad thing they have always done.  
Then there were mutants, sometimes finding their way into the Metro where they shouldn't. Nothing new. Artyom would be usually send to do that more than kill bandits. He was still the youngest and newest memeber of the Rangers, but nobody had any doubts about his capability now… No one doubted him anymore.

Saving the whole Metro two times in a row isn't something you do by an accident.

 

It was another one of those missions. Some Watchmen found their way into the tunnel in one of the far away stations - Kitai-Gorod. There was hole in the wall nobody could repair because station didn't have enough fighters and thus nobody has the courage to go there and probably get eaten by mutants just to get rid of the problem. Never ending cyrcle.

Artyom was commissioned to get there and protect the workers, amongst walking around and checking if there isn't nest or some other bigger threat. It was classic work Artyom was already confident in. Because his short time with the Little One taught him a lot.

He now undertood the mutants better. He knew that sometimes, there is no need for killing. This one time, all he had to do was lead two stray, younger Watchmen out of the tunnel to the rest of their pack and they just left, never coming back. Other times, blood needed to be spilled, but it was more calculated and smart now. Artyom knew They might be watching him and after all what happened, his main mission was to stay best example of people. To let them see humans don't have to be monsters. To taught himself that, too…

 

Artyom arrived to Kitai Gorod station after rather smooth travel. He reported to the leader and he gave him two of his best, fastest workers, material and told them the way to the spot.

Not long after workers started to repair the hole, Artyom realized where the problem lays. There were Lurkers all around, getting close to the waste exit, trying to get some food, and Watchers noticed this too. That made both sides hostile, so not only the mutants fought about the space and food between themselves but they also made it almost impossible for any human to walk through before getting immediately attacked.

This was one of those things they had to solve by themselves. It was natural food chain. It wasn't his place to decide this. He only shot those who got too close and agressive and protected workers until they could patch and fill the hole and secure it. When the work was done, Artyom rested his weapon with deep sigh.

„That was close. Good we had you here,“ one of the workers shook his hand and noded. „When we get back, you should talk to Petrovich. It arranged that you can get food and some good sleep in the station. You deserve it after work you've done for us and the long journey you had to complete. It has been ages since this problem began. We thought we will never walk safe here again. But they finally send for you and now we can,“ worker talked while they waked back to the station.

Artyom just noded, staying quiet. He never was much of a talker anyway.

It was pleasing to finish mission this fast and without any problems. After thanks and praise from station reader, Petrovich, Artyom was shown small room with a bed and invited to join other for dinner at local dining room.

It was true that he was tired and hungry, so he appreciated it.

 

He's never been to Kitai Gorod before so he took his time to explore a little before going to bed. Now, the station was a little calmer. Normal rush and noise calming down, only few people on the streets, mostly sellers. The station took the blow when Nazis attacked it few years back but it seemed that things are getting better there again.

Artyom always enjoyed listening to people around him talk. Not just because he could learn some important information but he also just… enjoyed it. It was like forgetting about oneself for a moment and getting invested in life of someone else. Of course, most of the time other didn't know he was listening and it wasn't the most polite thing, but it gave Artyom perspective. It gave him bigger perception and better understanding of world around him.

One of the many things the Little One taught him.

There was artist at the end of the market street. Selling pictures isn't something that would make someone in the Metro much money. In fact, art was one of the few things people had to give up. Of course – there was music and other artistic posibilities for free, only that selling paintings wasn't as popular as it used to be. Altrough Artyom heard of people who would pay others great ammount of bullets just to go on the surface and try to find what is left. But there was only few collectors like this. Most of the people would give all of their bullets for food, medicine and overall better life than something as pitty as paintings.

„Would you like a buy one, young man?“ seller asked immediately after Artyom was in his eye sight. He didn't have the Ranger uniform on anymore because he didn't wanted too much attention and it seemed like his cover was working since man didn't noticed his tags. At first he hesitated, but then ruffled in his pocket to find some bullets.

„Take this,“ Artyom said simply, like it was nothing and watched older man's suprised expression.

„Oh my… Thank you, I… you sure you don't want any of these?“ he started pointing at smaller pictures, mostly of surface before the war – beautifuly drawn trees, parks and houses. Artyom politely smiled and shook his head a little. He didn't need that. He had his photos in his room in D6.

 

Just when the seller started to persuade him again to take at least something, Artyom noticed – just by coincidence as he shook his head – someone standing at the end of the street, close to the corner. He saw that siluette only in the corner of his eye, but he noticed that the person quickly took off almost running.

That activated alarm in his head. His Ranger instincts telling him that something is wrong. He thanked the man, said he has to go and quickly followed the person behind the corner. He noticed that this part of the station wasn't so well lit and not just because a lot of people went to sleep already. It seems like the poor part and that wasn't anything strange. Maybe some homeless man just saw him and got scared, maybe that was it but… something told him… Something told him to not let it go.

So he continued through the station, his gun still at place, but his hand was hovering over the knife, ready just in case.

When there was nothing but silence around him, he stopped and closed his eyes, trying to max up his senses as much as he could and listen to every little sound that would help him, because that person had to be there and every person makes a sound. He was Ranger, he was hunter in a way, there was something – maybe experience, maybe something more – that could tell him things normal person would never notice.

Like quiet, shaky breathing coming from dark street corner close to him. He could also notice slightly moving rag covering doors to one of the houses that could be very well used as a hiding spot. Artyom strained all of his muscles, held his breath and slowly like a lurking animal began to aproach the rag and anyone who is behind it. For lal he knew it could be a spy, from Nazis _or_ Reds. It could be someone wanting to start trouble again and he was not going to let anything like that happen.

Not this time. Not now.

 

When he was close enought he striked. Like a cobra, he jumped, one hand with the knife putting to the neck of the lurker before he could even see him and quickly moving the rag aside with the other.

„Why were you following me?!“ he raised his voice like a warning, but before he could get answer from the person he was holding against the wall, he saw his face.

Pavel.

There was breef… blackout in Artyom's mind. This 'what the hell' moment that made him confused and lost. Within a second, all that happened came through his mind, all of those memories, good and bad and horrible, everything that happened, everything in disorted images and sounds and feelings. He had to study his face, make sure if it's really him, but… it was. It really was the damn Pavel Morozov.

„I… I hoped you won't notice me, but what am I thinking, huh? It's _you_ , d'Artagnan,“ he smiled and churckled a little, but in no way happily, turning his head and not looking Artyom into the eyes at the same moment.

He looked… _a lot worse_ than when he last saw him.

And that was lot to say considering last time was when he almost killed him at the Red Square. Now… Pavel's beard was growing out, which was just strange to see, out of character. His eyes and face seemed very sickly looking – dark circles under the eyes, some bruises and new scars. When he looked down, he noticed Pavel isn't wearing Red Line uniform but older, worn off clothes, visibly not very warm or protective. He didn't even had much things with him. Since Artyom was pushing him against the wall, he could feel that packpage on his back is almost empty. Even Pavel's overall posture didn't seem to fit with the memory – he looked a lot thinner, weaker.

„Not saying anything? Huh, Artyom?“ sound of his name coming out of Pavel's lips awoke him from deep thoughts, making him pull away and step back, creating space between them so both men can finally breathe. It was Pavel and he knew what he is capable of doing, he was Major afterall, but right now he didn't seemed like a threat. He almost… looked pathetic. Sad. He wouldn't be able to run away, Artyom knew that.

 

„What are you doing here?“ Artyom couldn't help it but sound bitter and angry, even if he tried to be calm. He spared his life but that doesn't mean he just got over all the things he's done. Over his betrayal. Artyom was still bitter enough about that to be incredible defensive.

„I know it's gonna be hard to believe but I had no idea you'll be here. How could I know, chuvak, huh?“ he smiled again in that sad, pathetic way but that made Artyom even more angry.

„Stop it!“ he snapped at him. That word had some meaning before all of this. Before he knew he's a traitor, a liar. He could call him that when he thought they were friends, not now.

„I'm sorry, I'm sorry,“ Pavel put his hands up in defense. „I had no idea I will ever see you again, honest. Perhaps… I hoped I won't. I'm just staying around here, that's all… I walk here every day. I just heard familiar voice coming from the market and… went to look. That's it. That's it, ya klyanus'. Believe me in this, Artyom.“

He did. He didn't want to but he did when he looked at him and it made him almost uncomfortable that he believed him. Because he shouldn't. That could be mistake. All of this could be just his revenge or another vicious game of the Red Line for all he knows.

„You want me to believe you are here just like that? Alone? Where are the others? There are gonna be Reds close,“ he looked cautiously behind him and around.

 

„There are… no Reds, Artyomich. Just me...“

Artyom's tense posture eased when he heard Pavel's voice. There was something almost eery about it, he sounded so… Like a ghost... 'No!' Artyom ordered to himself in his head. He isn't going to get his guard down now. Not this time. Not ever again. He won't feel sorry for him, he won't feel anything. 

„It's been five months. Do you mean to say you're here the entire time?“ he continued with a little less hostile tone but still threatening. It made some sense… Kitai Gorod was very close to the Red Square, where he left him. It would make sense that Pavel got here but after that, he would go straight to the Red Line. There was no questioning that.

„Doesn't make sense, does it?“ he just traced off, looking into the ground and seeming so weak on his feet Artyom felt like he could pass out every second. If he really spoke the truth – was he here for whole five months just by himself? Without any money or food or allies? „I couldn't… I couldn't go. Back to the Red Line, you know?“ he looked at his hands and clenched them. „I just… Blyadj! I don't know,“ he shook his head, still bowed and avoiding looking at Artyom.

He shouldn't care about what he has to say or what he feels. He shouldn't care.

„You can live, Pavel. So what the hell are you doing. Don't make me regret what I've done.“

„You saved me, chuvak… I know. I don't know why you did.“ Finally, he looked Artyom into the eyes. Last time they did that they were fighting to death. Everything was so different. So much was at stake. So much damage has been done. He saw all that when he looked into Pavel's blue eyes. He couldn't unsee. But somewhere deep down, behind all that… there were still Musketeers.

It was so stupid, Artyom knew. So stupid of him, but he couldn't help it.

 

That time, it felt like he had first childhood friend. He really did felt like a child. Stupid and naive. Experiencing something like that for the first time because never before he had someone like that. It was always just people around, cold and unfamiliar in a way. It was soldiers, they became his family, but he never had real friends - aside from few in the distant past - and then… when he met Pavel, he felt like he really got that. For a moment…

„You are alive. Make something good out of it,“ Artyom said after few moments of silence and quickly turned, walking away.

He would believe this was coincidence.

He would believe Pavel, for some reason, didn't go back to the Red Line and stayed here.

He would believe he is miserable because he deserves to be miserable after what he's done.

He would believe all of that, give him benefit of the doubt once and for all, but that is all he will do, he said to himself. He will leave Pavel and never see him again, because there is no other way…

 

Isn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. This is one of those fanfictions that are, at least in my opinion, very canon based. When playing M:LL again, I noticed a lot of things that inspired this and I want to share them with you. Mainly reasons why I think Pavel had thing for Artyom and may be gay. Again - these are just my crazy opinions, I can make ship out of anything and I get some of these are kinda stretch, but I still believe there is a lot of potentional proof. Here we go, my reasons why I think Pavel might be gay: 
> 
> 1\. At the Theatre, when Pavel meets the prostitutes/dancers they mention that Pavel haven't seen them in a while and ask if he still likes them. He answers with kinda awkward: "I - I am totally in love with you girls, but I've been busy with work. I'm very very so - I'll come back soon, I promise." Someone could argue it's just Pavel being Pavel or him not being in mood to talk, but to me it seemed very... simply strange. To me, it seemed like he was there few times enjoying their companion but more to show off in front of his comrades, rather than enjoying it actually, and now he is trying to get out of having to be with them again, aka "I've been busy with work, bayyyy!"
> 
> 2\. Right after that, when he says "Artyom, Artyom, looks like you're bit woman-hungry, huh? Well, yes, yes, it's a hard life without a soft woman, I know." it also seemed a lot like "ooooh women, we all love them right?! I so love women, I am not gay at all, I am totally like all of you!" to me. Stretch, I know, but still... Just seeemed odd. 
> 
> 3\. Then, when Artyom is capcured, Pavel goes off on the soldier hurting Artyom with "Hey, stop that, blyadj! He's just being overenthusiastic, you know.." We know that he sees Artyom at least like a friend, but is seemed to me that he was very, very unhappy and became kinda overprotective seeing Artyom hurt, almost snapped at that soldier and maybe it was a little too much for just friend, no??
> 
> 4\. In Venice, if I remember right, you can see Pavel, soldier and two whores who want their pay. Pavel again says very agressively/unfriendly "Get it from your local boss, bitch. Shoo!" Interesting fact is that they sound more like they want money from Red soldiers, to me they didn't seemed like they are talking exactly about Pavel and the other soldier, so again, maybe it is just other soldiers "having fun" and Pavel acting like he is doing same thing as everyone while he isn't.
> 
> 5\. Then we have the "All right, all right, you're on top d'Artagnan, you're on top." That especially stuck a cord with me, not just because it sound sexual in literal sense, but... it seems like something hetero guy wouldn't say to other hetero guy, don't you think? To me, something like "you're in control, okay okay I get it" or something like that, would sound a lot more natural than what Pavel said, which sounded a little like his sexual fantasies coming out unintensionally. 
> 
> There are also other things about Pavel's past that just came very naturally to me, but that's gonna be part of future chapters. :) I hoped this didn't seemed crazy, I am just very excited and inspired by this, that all!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, yayyy! In this chapter you can see that a sliiiightly changed the cannon - specifically the fight at the Red Square, but that's it. It's not even that important, really. :) Enjoy!

Artyom fell to his bed and almost immediately closed his eyes. He thought he will have trouble falling asleep with what just happened, but his tiredness overcame him faster than he anticipated. Now, he was in the kingdom of dreams, only place in the Metro where he could feel safe, at least now, after earning his forgiveness.  
He didn't have many nightmares since, only few normal ones everyone has.  
No. Now… he would have this beautiful dream from time to time, memory with his mother, outside, before war happened. Of course, it could feel saddening at times, but usually he would wake up with smile on his face – something that is not very common for him, so he would feel blessed and whole day would always go better.  
From time to time, he had strange dream in the tunnel… He would be alone but knowing they are with him, watching.

It took some time before he realized he is in one of those dreams again. It felt so bizarre, there was no getting used to it. He knew he's asleep, but he was also awake. Soft, blue light was shinning through dark tunnel. Artyom wasn't afraid of the dark, he knew he's safe.  
Slowly aproaching course of light, he noticed forming silhouette. Smaller one.  
He smiled.  
„Artyom,“ Little One appeared in front of him, voice sounding warm, like he is smiling.  
„I'm glad to see you,“ he admitted with soft tone.  
„I wasn't able to get to you, but you don't need my help now. Others say they are proud of you.“ Hearing that made Artyom shiver. It was the biggest compliment but also something that was putting a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. He couldn't let them down again.  
„Things are settling down. For now. Everything seems to be alright.“  
„I'm glad,“ Little One said. When he saw Artyom's face and emotions he was trying to hide, he moved his head and carefully watched him, reading him like a book. „Something happened today. Made you angry. I could've felt it.“  
Artyom faltered and didn't answered for a moment.  
The Little One was getting older and more powerful. Of course he noticed.  
„You gave him forgiveness but you still can't forget what he's done. I understand,“ he said calmly. Artyom felt ashemed that he had to know he feels like that. He was just a human. Just the fact he spared Pavel there… He had no idea where it came from. How he found that strenght inside himself, but he did. He wanted to be better person but seeing Pavel now just opened old wounds.  
„Was he saying truth? Was he there for there whole time?“ Artyom asked quietly.

„He wasn't lying,“ Dark One nodded. „From when I touched him, I can still feel him. Faintly… He's… so lonely. Like I was before I found out about others. He feels… the same way you felt after you launched the missiles. Remorse…?“ he was searching for the right way to describe.  
Artyom's heart skipped a heartbeat when he heard Little One's words.  
For some reason he could see Pavel's face again. It was like he didn't really understand his tone before, like he didn't really wanted to see what was in his eyes when he looked at him for that brief moment.  
He wouldn't wish on anyone to feel like he felt. Not even him. He wouldn't want anyone to bear that huge weight of guilt. But he felt torn. His ego, his heart, his mind, all fighting, trying to come up with the best way to figure this situation out.  
„He… misses you. He feels sorry. What are going to do, Artyom?“ he looked at him with this naive curiosity and that made Artyom feel even more pressured. „I will be watching. Must go now,“ he began to dissapear into pieces before he even finished his sentence, giving Artyom no time to react.  
Right after that, he opened his eyes wide, staring into ceiling for several minutes, hands shaking, heartbeat fast.  
What was he going to do?  
Is he gonna go back? No… No, he couldn't… No, no, no – that would be simply stupid. And stupid decisions are what will get you killed in this word. And he got almost killed by Pavel several times. On the other hand, he… saved his life several times. When he didn't have to. Before he knew, maybe even before he was part of his plan. Maybe it was just something Artyom wanted to believe…

_"He isn't red... No anger. Just... sadness? I don't understand…"_

He sat up and sighted with desperation.  
He's gonna do this, isn't he?  
He just prayed it's not another mistake that will bite him in the ass.

After quietly taking his jacket, knife, boots and can of meat, Artyom came out of small bedroom. It seemed like everyone else was already asleep. What time is it? He looked at his watch - three in the morning. Maybe he isn't even there, maybe he left, but he had to go and look anyways.  
Stations at night always seems quite scary to Artyom.  
He was a Ranger, saw whole bunch of terrifying stuff, but there was something about going through seemingly empty and quiet station that made his stomach uneasy. It felt like everyone is gone, dead. Like he's all alone in the whole Metro, just him…  
That idea was frightening.  
When Artyom arrived to the place when he last saw Pavel, he wasn't there. He said he was just passing there every day anyways, he had to be around. So he started looking. Armed with soft flashlight on his wrist, Artyom quietly walked around the streets, like a cat on the hunt.  
From time to time he heard somebody snore through the windows.  
After he entered visibly even more poor part of the station – shown by the broken windows on the trains and trash all over the ground, he saw man sleeping next to the wall. That wasn't Pavel, this one was much older. He continued further, letting instincts lead him, until he came to small space in a corner, partially hidden behind big wooden boxes.  
Artyom looked at sleeping Pavel below him.  
Covered in some kind of blanket, but still shaking a little, because Kitai Gorod wasn't one of the warmest stations. There was big tunnel near by that was bringing a lot cold from outside in, along with radiation and uninvited guests.  
He kneeled before Pavel, slowly stretching hand to his shoulder. His head was telling him it's mistake, but his instincts didn't seem to protest, so he went with it. He didn't want to see his face, hear his voice, but he couldn't just let it be.

The moment Artyom touched Pavel he panically woke up with a cry and tried to pull a knife out of his belt but Artyom immediately stopped him.  
„It's me,“ he said calmly and waited for Pavel to fully wake up and realize what's going on.  
„Oh. Artyomich, what… kha-ha… gh,“ he was interruped by his own cough, „Did you came to finish me off, huh?“ His question seemed to be asked in all seriousness. That suprised Artyom – it seemed like he didn't even cared if he really came to kill him or not. Like he didn't cared at all.  
„No...“ Artyom sighted, taking canned meat out of pocket and passing it to Pavel.  
His eyes lit up, fixated on the can like he hasn't seen that in ages.  
„Is this some kind of game? Or are you… If you want to poison me and get even, there are way easier options, chuvak.“ Artyom felt something in his shiver when he heard it – that sounded a lot more like something Pavel he knew would have said, before. Like good old Artos. Not this… whoever he was now.  
He had to ask himself what happened to him. He felt... sorry for him even though he knew he deserves it.  
„Just eat,“ he prompted him slightly irritated and to his suprise, Pavel didn't wait second longer, took the can from his hands and immediately tried to open it with his knife. When he finally got inside, he dropped the knife and almost animal-like started to push out meat of out the can with his dirty fingers, gobbling it and swallowing so fast he started coughing halfway through. „Easy, easy. You're gonna sufforace,“ soft smile ran over Artyom's fact, immediately followed by worried frown.  
So… it was clear now that he hasn't lied. He was here alone. With nothing. It really seemed like he didn't have proper food in months.

He decided to wait with questions until Pavel finishes his food. It haven't semeed like he's able to concetrate on anything else in that moment.  
„Tak khorosho… So fucking good,“ Pavel almost moaned with pleasure while finishing up the food. „Ugh… Do you… Do you have more, d'Artagnan?“ he looked up to Artyom but immediately realized he may have gone too far with his wish. He didn't have to do this anyway. He didn't understood why he did this for him, so it was stupid to want more. „T-Thank you, Art-“  
„I want to hear answers. All of them. Right now.“  
„I see… I see. Okay, okay, sure, I can give you answers. Whatever ugh-… whatever you want to hear,“ he looked down again and Artyom could tell he knows what's gonna come.

_„He feels… the same way you felt after you launched the missiles. Remorse…?“_

„Why aren't you back at the Red Line?“ Artyom asked firmly.  
Pavel didn't liked that question. Didn't want to hear it, didn't want to think about it…  
„Because I…. I don't know, I… wanted to go back, but…“ It was the worst feeling he ever felt, or that least that he rememebered. This fight inside him was tearing his mind apart. Red Line was his home. Red Line was his way of life. It was all he cared about, his mission, his meaning of life. All these years there he felt nothing but certainty. Most of the time.  
Order is everything.  
But then he started to doubt – shortly after meeting Artyom, in fact. His faith in the communism, his self-esteem started to waver. But it was all he ever had.  
„I think you know, Pavel,“ Artyom's note suprised him and made him even more uneasy. He wanted the answer. He wanted to hear him say it. Maybe to make himself feel good, maybe to get justice, maybe to see him humiliated.  
„I always believed in communism, I… I still do,“ he added firmly, looking at Artyom with serious face but then softening up again. „But maybe you were right, maybe… we were villains, maybe… not everything was right…“  
He felt that guilt again, eating him up inside.  
„You knew about that virus and you still spreaded it, Pavel. It killed innocent women and children, it killed so many people of the Metro.“  
„But it was to save the Metro!“ he raised his voice but only met with Artyom's discordant expression. „It was my mission. It was my mission as Major, as communst! Right communist would do anything for the cause and I did all I had to! I did what I had to do to give people better life, to not betray my ideology and my govement,“ raw emotions on Pavel's face, and unmistakable doubt in his every word were something that made Artyom assurance that he's not just losing his time.

Maybe he was really doing it just because of… his pride and sense of honor. Although the method was questionable, he sincerely believed communism would give the people a better life. No matter how many dead he had to go through to achieve it. That wasn't in no way excuse, but… unfortunately for part of Artyom that just wanted to punish Pavel for everything he's done, he could put himself in his place too damn easily. Wasn't all he has done for the same thing?  
That realization almost shocked him.  
He too, thought killing Dark Ones is the best option for the people. He was certain. And he did the thing. Something that would later be his biggest mistake and almost his doom.  
If that little one haven't had given him chance to redeem himself, everyone would be dead now….  
„I'm… I'm not a monster, alright, chuvak? I took you hostage and I gave you chance to join us, alright, I… could have killed you at the Red Square but I didn't… I had the chance and it was my order to kill you, but...“  
After Pavel got silent, Artyom looked away.

He didn't liked remembering that day, it was bringing too much chaos and sadness to his mind, but he was telling the truth. There was a moment, when Pavel was already falling back to the upper level of the house, wounded, losing… And Artyom almost had him, but then he got distracted by one of the snipers he thought he killed trying to get to the weapon and finish Artyom. When he shot the sniper, he turned back to Pavel and saw him, aiming at him.  
There was nothing in the world stopping him. Pavel could have ended it in that moment just by pulling the trigger. Like a good communist. Like an enemy. After all that taunting and fighting, Pavel was looking at him with with gun in his hand, finger on a triger and this thing in his eyes Artyom wasn't able to identificate then. But as the Little One said – there wasn't anger. Just sadness.

_"Davai, davai, no remorse, no reproach, davai!"_

When he thought about that… it almost seemed like Pavel wanted Artyom to kill him. Like he was reconciled. Like he knew what he was doing is wrong and he needs to be punished.  
Why would he let him shot the gun out of his hand? Just left behind, vulnerable, for him to decide about his life.

_„You're good... you're good... Come on... come on then, finish the job, blyadj!“_

Pavel told him that 'he's Red until the day he dies' but now he seemed helpless. Lost. Artyom could understand that feeling more than well. He hated himself for that, but he couldn't just stop feeling for Pavel, even after everything he did.  
„I will get you as close to the Red Line as possible. That's all...“ Artyom stood up and looked at the Pavel from above – clearly letting him know there is not gonna be any space for shenanigans. Pavel looked up at him, confused. Maybe he is just hallucinating, dreaming. He didn't understand why would Artyom do that, but… he was much better man than him anyways. He was something different.  
He saw that from the beginning and… it scared him, in a way…  
He had no idea if he even wants to get back. He was so confused, so lost, there was no right path.  
„You would do that, chuvak?“  
„I will do it. But if you try anything...“  
„I won't, I won't! I swear, d'Artagnan, I swear, okay?“ He said quickly and sounded a little more alive again. „I know you don't trust me, I understand, but do I look like I am able to kill you? Huh? Come on, Artyom, I wo- I won't do anything.“ He added firmly, realising Artyom needs him to be serious and he needs to do anything in his power to make him trust just a little bit.  
Young Ranger nodded at the end, lifting his hand and giving it to Pavel to help him get up.  
At first he hesitated, and Artyom couldn't understand why, but then he took his hand and got up with quiet groan.

„I don't know how fast I'm gonna be. People of the Metro are not very fond of the Reds now, as you can tell. I met two bandits few days back when I was trying to get some food… Tch… Fucking savages. They got me good before I could take them down,“ he sighed while holding right side of his chest. So that was where were those bruises on his face from. In that state, Artyom was suprised he was even able to take two bandits down, but he was Major afterall. It was no suprise Pavel was good in combat. He was probably one of few Red soldiers who got proper millitary training.  
„I have place to sleep here. There's some more food, and fire. You can sleep till the morning. Then we will set off.“  
„Whatever you say, chuvak. I'm… in your debt now.“ Artyom just nodded, trying not get too close again. Even if Pavel spoke the truth, there was no way that Musketeers bullshit is happening again. „You can trust me, Artyom.“ Pavel added quietly, but Artyom was already back to him.  
„Let's go. No more talking.“


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all of the kudos and even just reading! ♥ I am not sure how often I will post, but I will try to write as fast as possible - I won't lost inspiration that way. Definitely be patient with me, I love this story more and more and can't wait to write more. I am aware there must be shit ton of grammar mistakes, I am trying to make it sound and be right, but I make mistakes, english is not my first language, so yeah... Enjoy!

Journey back to the Polis was like being followed by a ghost and in a way it wasn't so far from the truth.

After Pavel ate almost all food Artyom had and shaved his head and beard – to look and feel at least a little like the person Arthyom remembered – both men got on the way. Artyom walked first, not saying single word since they left the station and Pavel going slowly after him, equiped only with knife Artyom allowed him to have, and slowed down by his poor physical state as well as permanent injury. Artyom noticed it right after they woke up in the morning.

It was something with his leg - Pavel could walk, yes, but it was visible that it's a little uncomfortable for him, if not painful.

Artyom haven't asked about it but after some time he realized he might actually be the one who caused it – when he shot Pavel to the leg several times in their shootout on the Red Square.

Of course, as Ranger who should be very well used to it and Artyom never being much of a talkek overall, he was the only one who didn't mind the silence. Pavel wanted to talk. It was so natural to him. Something in him wanted this to feel like their first travels. He wanted to talk about Three Musketeers and joke with Artyom but he knew he destroyed that opportunity with no way of getting it back… That made first several hours of walk uncomfortably silent and depressing.

 

„Aye, Artyom, I… I think I need a moment to… collect myself,“ Pavel stopped, catching his breath and leaning on his knees with his hands, back slightly bend. Artyom immediately stopped and turned to him. He was in really bad shape. Before… Pavel was jumping around, saving Artyom's life every ten minutes, but now… If he really haven't properly eaten in five months, not to mention the beating he got… no wonder he needed to rest.

„We will set up camp on first safe place we will find and you can get some sleep.“

„That's not necessary, chuvak, I just need… I just need a moment, eto vse. I'm not so weak. Come on,“ he spreaded his hands and both of them could tell it's jut his ego talking because yes, no matter if Pavel liked it or not, he was weak now.

„We're halfway through the journey. But we have to walk on the surface for a little bit. If you're not ready and rested, you won't survive up there if something goes down. You know that,“ Artyom gave him serious look and even Pavel had to admit he's right. There was no way he's going up like this. He could get both of them killed.

„Okay, okay… Let's just find some servise room or something,“ he added and Atyom gave him slight nod. The walked through tunnels for another hour until they finally found one of the side rooms that used to be electric control room and had working, undamaged doors. They closed them, made sure nobody or nothing will get inside by putting metal cabinet in front of it and lit oil lamp.

 

Pavel sat down on blanket on the ground with painful sigh.

„You got me good, chuvak,“ he noticed Artyom watching him hold his leg. „It took me ages to take that bullet out. Probably messed up something there in the proccess, blyadj….“ he cursed discontentedly but then quickly looked at still silent Artyom. „Not that I didn't deserved it, huh?“ he chuckled. „I don't blame you, Artyomich.“

„You should rest. I will wake you up after...“ he said, sitting across the room from him, and started to look for something in his bag. Pavel stayed looking at him for few seconds, because before he didn't have the time to just look at Artyom and fully realize that… he's there. He's there with him. It wasn't dream. He was sure he won't ever see the Ranger again, and if yes, it will be last thing he'll see but he was here, helping him. Bitter and acting detached but… after all that, still all for one, one for all…

Pavel smiled while laying down and he felt this warmth in this chest, for the first time in months… It helped him quickly fall asleep.

 

Some time after that, when Pavel was already in deep sleep, his breath slow and steady, Artyom took his diary out of the bag. It was something he had to do, not only to memorate his life, but to calm himself down. Writing helped him collect his thoughs and have bigger perspective. He didn't even wrote and entry right after meeting Pavel again – he was too shocked and confused to do so. He also fell asleep on the table, when he took him in last night, so there wasn't really time, nor calm moment to just take pen and to this.

 

_So… It really looks like I'm here, in the situation I have never even imagined happening. Or maybe I did. Maybe I needed closure. Maybe I wanted to see him again, to know if he is alive or not. Now I know – he is._

_He has been hidding this whole time, but from what? Himself? What he had done? I should have punched him in the face and leave him there but there is something that turns on when I am around him. This switch that makes me… vulnerable, stupid. But the Little One said he regrets what he's done and I believe him. I just wonder if it's enough. I wonder if all this is supposed to teach me something. Am I the one to help him redeem himself now…? Or just making another foolish decision?_

 

Artyom was writing slowly – every one of his entries could take him even half an hour or more to write down when he had the time for it. It was something he needed to do slowly, to reflect all of his thoughts. If the situation gave him this choice, of course.

 

With pen nervously tapping on dot of the question mark at the end of last sentence, he just blantly looked on the letters, going through his thoughts one be one, going back into ones that he wanted to just leave behind – when he met Pavel and they had their travels.

It was Pavel with his quavering breath and quiet moans who took him out of his deep thoughts. Artyom immediatelly looked at the comrade and saw visible discomfort in his face. He was definitely having nightmare. Artyom knew that face he was making all too well.

At first, he thought maybe he should wake him up, but what would be stupid. It's to my problem, he told to himself.

Pavel's painful moans started to intensify, his head twitching, just a little at first, but it seemed like whatever was happening in his dream was getting worse and worse.

It made Artyom's throat constrict. It felt like his own memories are coming back, to the endless nights when he was waking up from horrifying nightmares, scared and sweaty.

„No… No, no no no,“ he breathed out shakily and he breathing was getting louder and louder, his body shaking and his eyes moving left and right under his eyelids. That made Artyom a little more alarmed, no matter if he like it or not, he felt concern for Pavel because he could imagine how horrible he feels. „N-No please,“ his facial expression quickly turned to absolute desperation. „Please. No! Artyom, please don't…! Don't leave me here, Artyom!“

When he started shake so much it looked like he is actually physically held in the dream and isn't able to wake up, Artyom stepped in and quickly grabbed Pavel's shoulders, pulling him up.

„Pavel! Wake up!“ he yanked with him until he finally opened his eyes with frightened scream. Pavel stared at Artyom with eyes wide, sweat dripping from his forehead, his body shaking and fingers tug deep into Artyom's back.

„Wh- What… What's...“ he was panically looking around.

 

„You're awake. You're awake now, do you understand?“ Artyom yanked with him again and this time, Pavel quickly nodded, finally fully awaken. „It was just a nightmare,“ Artyom squeezed Pavel's shoulder to give him support, but right after realized… what he's doing and let go of him.

Pavel did the same, still breathing faster than usual, but calming down.

„I… I'm sorry, chuvak, I just… It got a little too intense, huh?“ he smiled, trying to bring humor into it like always but this time Artyom could see how hard it is for him. He was still terrifyed, he still saw it, he knew.

„Your dream… Was it about what happened before… I left you at Red Square?“ Artyom got serious when he realized that. Look on Pavel's face gave him the right answer. Of course it was.

It was scary even for Artyom, going through the dead city with all those shadows and ghosts… But he had the Little One with him, he protected him, but still…

He remembered Pavel's face when all of them were holding him, pulling into them, thousands of hands, screams and suffering souls. No matter what Pavel did, in that moment, when Artyom saw it, he couldn't left him to that fate. It was too cruel, horrifying, for anyone. And now it looked like no matter what he did, they found him again. They never left him. They were still torturing Pavel in his dreams, maybe like his punishment.

„It keeps… It keeps coming back. Every other night. I can feel their… fucking touch,“ he said, sounding like a ghost and looking into the wall with unhealthy white face. „But… But that's okay, chuvak, you know, that's okay,“ he added quickly, with that care-free, happy tone that made Artyom shiver. He wanted to sound like nothing is happening, but this wasn't the case.

So Artyom finally looked him in the eyes – not in that demeaning, cold way but… honestly. He was really looking at Pavel, trying to read in him. When Pavel saw it, he froze – Artyom was looking at him, without that mask and detachment, he was really looking at him, letting him close again, like when they were Musketeers. No matter how insane it was, it immediatelly caught all of Pavel's attention – it made no sense, but he had to make Artyom trust him again. It was something… he was sure he wants. He wasn't sure about Red Line, he wasn't sure about himself anymore, but he was sure he wants Artyom to… forgive him. To trust him again.

 

„After this kept coming back, I started to wonder… how many of them could be the ones who died from that virus… You know?“ Pavel's voice quieted down as he said the last sentense. „I never… wanted anyone suffer like this. I mean, it's no even… it's not even possible. When you die, there's… nothing,“ he looked genuinely confused. Artyom looked at him suprisingly – he was really rethinking his ways. He regretted what he's done and that was important.

„I've seen things in the Metro, and on the surface… that saying there isn't anything doesn't really apply anymore,“ he said quietly.

Old Pavel would never think about these things. There was nothing – no god, no soul, that was what he was thought and what everyone in the Red Line believed. There was no need to disprove it but now… There was need to disprove everything for him.

„I'm… glad you haven't left me there with them, Artyom.“

„Don't talk about it,“ he sighted, turning his head again. „Nobody deserves that fate.“

„I really believed I was doing the right thing, Artyom.“

„Well, you weren’t,“ he snapped and angerly turned his gaze away. „You should have thought more. Only one not using his head is you here.“

Pavel sadly frowned when he realized Artyom is paraphrasing what he’d said at Red Square. It was... Almost painful to remember that. Pavel wanted it all to end well, he wanted it so much. He wanted to not have to fight Artyom, to not send his men after him but he had to. It was his order and all his pride was at stake. At that moment, he had to put his coincience aside, like many other times. After all these years. he was getting good at that.

And in the corner of his mind, he knew Artsom would win anyways and that calmed him down. He was sure Artyom will just kill him and that meant he wouldn't have to live with that guilt, with Artyom’s blood on his hands.

 

„Why are we going through surface? There are tunnels that lead to the station.“

„They are not safe and not so frequently used. I know surface better than tunnels here.“

„Tch, what little adventurer you are, huh? You should watch out, or your children will look hideous with all that radiation you get in contact with,“ Pavel chuckled. „Would be waste of perfect genes!“

He started with that friendly talk again – he tried to act like nothing ever happened. Artyom didnt liked that, he couldn'tt let that happen.

„How do you even know about tunnels here? You're Major of the Red Line, yes, but not Ranger. I can't imagine you would get to travel through not frequently used tunnels this much. Doesn't make sense,“ Artyom looked at him suspiciously.

Pavel looked suprised just for a second and then quickly smiled to hide it.

„Not so unusual, Artyomich. You Rangers are not the only ones, dont get too cocky, chuvak.“ Maybe that was true, but Artyom couldn't shake feeling that he was getting lied to, or at least wasn't told everything.

He was so damn stupid to believe him in a first place. He never liked communists for a reason. But he liked Pavel... Maybe if situation was different, they really could have been great friends.

When Artyom looked at Pavel again after few moments of silence, he was sleeping again. He must have been really tired. How could he just survive there, in the dark, dirty corners of station far away from his home?

Artyom remembered that feeling he had first night away from Timiryazevskaya. He knew how that feels. But he wasn't all alone in Exhibition. Pavel was...

 

He needed to think so he opened his journal again.

 

 _I need to stay vigilant and only think with my head now. No matter what the Little One said, I can't_ _s_ _hake  the_ _f_ _eeling that there is more to Pavel. More I don_ _'_ _t know, more I don_ _'_ _t understand and that means danger._

 

 _After capturing me, Pavel said that nothing is coincidence. That_ _we_ _met for a reason. I_ _w_ _onder if there is any truth in that...“_

 

 

**\------  ♦  ------**

 

 

„It's time to go.“ Artyom woke Pavel up, shaking his shoulder, and right after Pavel nodded, he threw him another can, this one with beans. „Eat this. I will check if there are any gas masks around here you can use.“ Before he could react, Artyom was out of the room, so Pavel just sighted and decided to eat.

He was lucky gas mask was his only problem.

It was getting warmer and warmer on the surface so he really hasn't needed more warmer clothes. The ones he had he looted from one of the corpses he found on the way from the Red Square. „A Red Line officer does not steal from corpses - but you're Spartan. Go ahead!“ he told Artyom once. What an irony.

He wondered how many more of his principles is he gonna violate. He did it to survive though. That was all that is. He knew he can't just go down there in Red Line uniform. People were so hostile towards Reds – and they haven't really stopped even now – he knew he would be dead in few days. Especially like he was – alone, vulnerable and injured.

 

When done with eating, Pavel got up and tried to stretch.

At first few days, he almost couldn't walk from the injuries Artyom caused him. Bullet in his leg was the worst of them. Others only required time to get better. When they healed and his leg was in a little better state, he tried to keep in shape, helping anyone who would give him food or bullets – usually with moving crates.

But with that painfully small amount of food he was getting and lack of sleep due to those constantly occuring nightmares, he felt weaker and weaker by every day. His injury has gotten worse again and well... From there it went only downhill.

He could have gone home so many times – he even saw Red Soldier, twice. But it didn't felt right. For the first time in years he listened to his inner voice and did what it wanted. The _right thing_.

And now... It brought Artyom back to him. That can't be coincidence, can it...?

Pavle quickly looked up when he saw Artyom standing in the door, lifting his hand with slightly cracked, but still very usable gas mask.

He decided not to say anything for now and just let the life take all this anywhere it's supposed to go.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very productive with this thing, which makes me very happy, I hope it will last. So! This is longer chapter and after this one, things start to really heat up, finally! There is gonna be more action and revelations and character development, at least I hope! Enjoy.

„I haven't been up here since summer started. Wasn't sure if I’ll even see it here again. Bleen, it’s so damn beautiful, isnt it, Artyom?“ Pavel continued with his mission of making atmosphere between two of them a least a little bit cheerful and personal. Artyom was mostly quiet as normally, but even he had to admit it looked beautiful outside.

„Yeah... It is,“ he said, letting some warmth into his voice.

It still looked like scenery after nuclear war, of course, but a lot of that eeriness wasn't that obvious thanks to growing trees, grass and shining sun. Has in no way looked like pre-War photos but still… It was the best they could get.

Artyom realized they haven't seen any animals sice they came up. That was unusual but they were probably just laying somewhere on the sun, he hoped. They were quite lucky because in summer, problems with mutants would usually get a lot worse thanks to mating. Not only there was more of them, but they were also much more nervous and agressive because most of them were protecting their young. 

„How is your leg?“ Artyom couldn't help himself from asking. It was the damn nice weather, making him exact opposite of what he wanted to be – grumpy. He wanted to be grumpy and cold towards Pavel, but he wasn't too succesfull.

„Ah, it's alright, you know, it could be worse, it could be worse.“

Optimistic as always.

„You should get medical attention when you get back. Maybe they could do something about it. But since you left it untreated this long... What a stupid thing to do,“ Artyom said, sounding like annoyed teen which made Pavel angry and entertained at the same time because it sounded so damn angsty.

 

„Blyad, come on, that's just not fair, chuvak. I'm here suffering because of my mistakes, aren’t you happy? I bet you are, huh?“ He taunted him with his tone but Artyom remained quietly walking in front of him, not looking back, so Pavel tried a little more. „You're playing this savior right, sparing bad guys, petting mutants and shit. But you damn well like seeing me suffer, chto?“

Thinking with your head, Artyom, he repeated to himself. Thinking with your head.

„Now's not the right time, Pavel.“

„What else do you want me to do, ha? Because I would love if you told me,“ he suddenly stopped and Artyom did right after him. When he looked at him, it seemed like his leg really _is_ hurting him and that is why he’s so nervous. Of course Pavel wouldn't even told him. He was so damn proud.

„This is so fucking stupid,“ Pavel growled and in that moment that tone reminded Artyom how he sounded on the Red Square when he screamed at him, pissed off and desperate. „You should have killed me, Artyomich. What should I do now, huh? Because I can't even go home thanks to the fucking nightmares that ape gave me.“

„Thats just your coincience.“ Artyom noted with amused tone which didn't made situation much better. „We have to go now. We can't just stand here on the open. I will buy some painkillers in the station, so just bear it till then. Man up, you’re supposed to be Athos, net?“

When Pavel heard that last muffled, intentionally quiet sentence Artyom said, his face changed into expression if child getting a present.

He could almost feel how much it warmed his heart.

He quickly catched up with Artyom and at least for a moment, he felt like he could be alright – maybe he doesn't know if he has place to call home, but he was with Artyom now and that just felt right. It seemed that even Artyom doesn't know if he really hates Pavel or not and that gave him assurance too.

 

Outside was beautiful but still no place for people to be, not to mention shortage of filters, so both men entered the metro. Artyom was glad they didn't encountered any problems on the surface. It seemed almost suspicious to him but not having to fight off hords of mutants with injured Pavel was good thing so he didn't minded it too much.

„We'll arrive to Kurskaya in few more minutes. They will hopefully let us take a train to the Komsolomskaya and then it is just short walk to the Red Gates.“

„And then, you can get straight to the Polis through the Red line,“ Pavel nodded. The journey was a lot longer than it could have been, but Artyom was leading the way and he had people in Kurskaya he needed to talk to. I could be done half as fast if they just got through the Theatr but Pavel wasn't complaying. He would need to get all the way to the Red Village anyways.

„Hopefully. There shouldn't be any problems now,“ he added firmly and continued in walking. Most of the Red Line attitude towards everyone, especially Rangers was still humble. Artyom had no idea what's going on inside really – he knew there are big changes happening, especially chosing new leader, and that they have their own problems inside their goverment now to cause them to others. Hansa was also keeping careful eye on them and everyone knew that if anyone tried anything again, it would started another war – one that could actually destroy metro for good. And nobody wanted that.

 

„Kurskaya could have someone who will treat your leg. They have a lot of useful things thanks to pact with Baumansky Alliance.“

„I heard, I heard,“ Pavel quickly nodded. „You even been there, Artyomich? To the Baumanskaya? Or Elektrozavodskaya, huh?“ he asked energetically and sounded maybe too excided. Artyom looked at him fleetingly, confused by why does he sound so happy all of the sudden.

„No, I haven't. Have you?“ he asked curiously.

„Nah,“ Pavel waved and shook his head. „Of course not. It sounds horrible there if you ask me,“ he chuckled and Artyom could almost hear that despise in his voice. „Sure, they scavage valuables and pre-war technology and they have protection from Hanza, but that's just because they need them. Other than that, who would want to live in isolated stations like that. No order, just other people using you. That's fucking horrible.“

Young Ranger looked at Pavel again for a second. He seemed to have pretty strong opinion about it, for some reason. It was a bit strange, but a lot of Pavel's life philosophy was strange to Artyom, so he didn't cared too much and just slightly shook his head.

„What's your home station, chuvak?“

He sure was asking personal questions. Maybe it was just different way to get under Artyom's skin.

„Why are you asking?“

„Just making a conversation! Come on, come on, chuvak. We can't just go without talking, it's making me crazy. You know you can start seeing shit in the tunnels, I just want to keep my mind occupied, that all,“ he was trying really hard to get what he wants and he was succeeding.

Artyom sighted.

„Exhibition,“ he said after few moments. He didn't have to be absolutely honest with him – definitely not after what Pavel did, after he lied to him himself. And what Artyom said wasn't so far from truth, it just wasn't the whole truth. Not to mention he was definitely not in mood to tell Pavel what happened in Timiryazevskaya. Or anyone, in that matter...

 

„Ooooh I see, I see. That's not so far from the Red Line, huh? We could have met ages ago, maybe didn't even know it!“ he got excited again. Artyom was just quiet, trying to not catch Pavel's friendly mood. He felt that it's harder and harder for him to not get engaged in conversation with him since it really felt good to hear him, to just talk with someone. Most of the people he knew were Rangers – they would always talk about mutants and missions and Artyom liked it, yes, he was interested in that stuff most of the time, but he haven't met much people who would be able to just talk about stuff like it's normal day, like there is no apocalypse and everything is normal. Pavel was like that. He could talk about anything and it felt like everything is okay.

If he wasn't talking about communism or his plans to wipe out stations, of course.

„We are almost there,“ Artyom said when he saw first Hanza flag in the distance. That was his salvation. „If anyone asks, you are Polis citizen. You got lost. I'm taking you home.“

„That doesn't really make sense that far from Polis, does it Artyom?“

„Just do as I say. Moment they know you are Red they might not let us on the train. It would mean problems for both of us,“ Artyom sighted. He usually wasn't one to lie. It was just unnecessary. He was always this good boy – maybe doing things he wasn't supposed to from time to time, but in his heart, he hated lying to authorities and making things complicated.

„Konechno, d'Artagnan. Don't worry, don't worry.“

With Pavel's assurance and Artyom's circumspection, both men arrive to Kurskay station gates. It seemed that guards there had also good day – they talked about not seeing any mutants for few days, except nosalises and also some refugees from Red Line that came several days back. Without any inspection, they let Pavel go with Artyom and everything seemed to be alright.

They stopped in the centre of station which served as a market place.

„I'm supposed to get some documents from station's leader. You go and find yourself some medicine. We will meet here after.“ Artyom said, giving Pavel few bullets.

„Spasibo, chuvak. I swear I won't spend it on food and women, haha,“ he laughted and immediately noticed that it made Artyom grin a little.

„Don't. Get medicine,“ he said calmly and smiled - just a little, almost unnoticable, but he did.

 

"Okay, okay, as you say. I will meet you here then, Musketeer." Before Artyom could protest, Pavel was on his way. 'Is it happening all over again?' he thought. He was letting him be his friend again, like there was force he couldn't fight against. Like they always used to be friends, it was so natural that even after what he done, it would come back to this. He got played once, with that Musketeer saying, but didn't he hoped it was true the whole time? Pavel was most definitely not lying now, but maybe he was. Artyom couldn't shake off that feeling that he doesn't know anything.

Usually that would just make him not trust that person fully, but since he knew what is Pavel able to do for something he thinks is right, it made things a little more complicated.

 

Artyom gave Pavel quite a lot of bullets. He wondered if thats really how much Rangers get but then he remembered that Artyom is doing everything his own way - when he though about it, he never saw him kill any human and only one mutant, with a knife. Haven't seen him waste single bullet. This pacifistic way of life way unusual in the metro but it seemed that it's paying out for Artyom, literally.

When doctor asked, Pavel said he's Red line refugee. It was best thing he came up with. Something so strange and hard to say, but it was what got him solidarity from others and nobody questioned him. When the doctor was patching up his leg, he was saying all kinds of things. Things Pavel already heard and never wanted to believe them - that life in Red line stations is horrible, that there is no food, no pay. Not to mention people talking about Korbut and his plan - that part was right, but the rest.... It was the same thing all over again.

He had to bite his tongue so he wouldn't reply. It made him angry. It made him miss home even more but it also made him even more torn.

He remembered only good things about his life there. He got his pay, he was happy, he had food. He couldn't understand people who had selfish reasons for everything. They were the reason others suffered. He gave his whole heart to the cause, he left himself open and became consumed by communism but that always got him this beautiful certainty and peace. Nothing else. Just place and function in this terrible world, family in a sense and first of all _order_.

Only that in the end – now – it became so much more confusing and chaotic exactly because of that.

Pavel was glad when he was done. He couldn't listen to that hateful words anymore, so he just bought some pain killers and walked of with this apparatus from his leg to the hip that was supposed to make him heal a little bit faster, altrough doctor told him there will be always some form of discomfort - in that sense, the injury was sort of permanent.

That was okay, Pavel could manage that.

 

After getting kind of clumsily back to the market, he saw Artyom already waiting there. With helmet in his hand, watching people with that interested, curious face. He looked so cute and innocent, Pavel thought, but immediately banished the thought like it was the Devil right after fully realizing it. He breathed in and out and then walked to the Ranger.

"Have you been waiting long, Artyomich?" he immediatelly continued in previous kittenish tone of conversation.

"No, not really," Artyom shook his head a little and then looked on Pavel from head to toe.

"I see, I see. Oh well, chuvak, look what I got," he lifted his shirt so Artyom could see piece of metal attached to belt around his waist leading down to his leg. "I look fucking hideous now if you ask me. I should wear this while walking. For the next few months. Months! Blyat, what a bullshit, pravil'no?" He chuckled.

"If it helps you with the injury, it's probably worth it, isn't it, idiot?" Artyom couldn't help it but laugh a little too. It was so stupid. Pavel felt complimented by his insult so he just smiled. "There's gonna be train going to Komsolomskaya in two days,“ Artyom continued. „They're moving some materials from here, so we're in luck, they will let us travel with them."

"Opa! I can't wait to get a ride there - no more damned walking," he looked and sounded pleased but he more and more realized that after this, he will really be standing in front of the gates again. He will have to go home and... He wasn't sure if he's really ready for that. If he has everything worked out.

"What is it?" Artyom asked and sounded more concerned over Pavel's for moment upset face than he intended.

 

Before he could answer, attention of both of them was caught by young woman talking to Hanza guard who just came to the area. She looked about twenty years old, had longer brown hair and bandana on her head. Guessing from clothes, she was normal civilian, probably one of the less privileged.

"...But you can't just ignore my begging for help! You're soldiers and I'm Hanza citizen!" She almost screamed at him, already visibly upset.

"And I understand that. But as I already said," guard seemed quite passive towards her problem but slightly annoyed by her insistence, "there is nothing more I can do than refer you to the Law office. Inform them about your problem. They will manage it after there is given order for an investigation."

"I already did that!" She was losing her nerves. "It takes days for them to process it! I don't have days, blin..."

Guard finally began to notice people are staring and whole situation is much more public and loud than he would have liked.

"I will say this for the last time, lady," he leaned closer to her and menacingly rested his hand on his rifle which made Artyom tense, closely watching whole situation now, ready to step in if it gets out of control. "You should report your issue to the officials. Then they will investigate your claims and solve your problem, if it is really found out to be true. Which is not. Rimskaya is abandoned, period."

"Why would I made it u-?!" She wanted to continue but realized it's lost battle so she made step back from him with groan. "Blyakha mukha. Idiots, kazhdyy iz nikh..." She murmurred to herself when guard was walking away, happy he doesn't have to deal with her anymore.

"Well... that was interesting. Women are just crazy, huh Artyom? We should probably go," Pavel noted amusedly, probably not even caring about her situation.

Artyom felt he should do something, he hated seeing injustice, but it also felt like its not his place to do anything so he just walked off. They needed to find place to sleep anyways, and get some food. He was pretty sure Pavel will start asking about food any minute now.

When they were pasing her, she was just looking to the ground with a hand over her face. She seemed desperate but... a lot of people were. There is no way to help everyone.

 

"H-Hey, you! You're... You're a Ranger!" They heard from behind few moments after they left the scene.

"Oh blyadj, you got to be fucking kidding..." Pavel annoyingly growled and stopped right after Artyom who already turned to the woman. "Hey hey hey, chuvak listen to me," he quickly whispered, "dont you even think about it!"

Artyom just gave him 'shut up' look and waited till she came to them.

"Are you Polis Ranger? You can help me if these useless idiots can't, right?" She gave him that look only women can make - big brown eyes looking straight into his soul, inducing compassion and desire to protect. Artyom hesitated - even though he had stupidly big heart, he knew he can't just go around helping everyone. He would be already dead for sure if he did that.

"We help with things we are assigned to. I understand your pain, but..." he tried, but wasn't certain enough for her to accept _no_ as an answer.

"Fucking Nazis kidnapped my little brother and there isn't single damn person in the whole metro to care!" She laughted bitterly. "God..."

"The fuck?" Pavel almost churckled but when he saw her face he immediately realized she's serious. "Nazis, eh?" He sounded a little too amused for her taste so her rage turned to him.

"You think I'm just making this up, like everyone does! Stupid... fucking men. If nobody's gonna help me, I'm just gonna help myself and go there alone," her voice was shaky, from freak and anger, but certain at same moment. "If that station really is that abandoned like everyone keep telling me, I'm gonna be just fine, tch."

"Great. We can go now, Art-"

Pavel just saw him opening his mouth and knew they are completely fucked.

"What station are you talking about? Just... Just tell us what the whole story is. I don't promise anything but I will hear you out," he said it with that soothing, charming tone it almost made Pavel jealous. "What's your name?"

"Katya," she seemed timid all of the sudden, suspicious that he wants to listen to her. "And I... Well I was out of the station with my little brother, Evgeni. We were coming from the tunnels, we... usually go there with some men and we garther mushrooms and other stuff. We went by ourselves last night, just me and Evgeni and... I lost sight of him for a second and... There were men from the Reich with guns, I got scared..." she was reliving it all over again, her eyes wide and empty, voice shaking. "So scared... Like a damn coward," she clenched her fists. "Glupyy! Shit. They... must have watched us for some time, because they knew about Evgeni. He's deaf, so they... They started talking about taking him to the Rimskaya, they must have one of those concentration camps there, they talked about experiments and... Bog, I should have gone after them right then but I... I naively thought it will be better if I get help here, I though someone would help! Blyakha..." She was holding her head and breathing heavily.

It made some sense. After the plague, station of Rimskaya was burned down and guarded so the illness doesn't spread but now it was ruled empty and closed. It would be one of the last places someone would look for an enemy, and Nazis were crazy enough to start their camp there.

 

"Tak tak tak tak, Artyom," said Pavel immediately as a warning, wishing Artyom won't do what he thought he wants to do. "You know how this sounds, chuvak…" he was whispering, but she heard him anyways.

"I'm not lying!" Katya almost screamed, desperate and tired of it all.

"Please, just give us a moment," Artyom said, grabbing Pavel by the shoulder and moving them few steps from her.

"Don't you start, Artyomich!"

"I know well this is not my job, but she needs our help. We met her for a reason and what will it say about us if we will just look past her suffering when we can do something? And you know what - you don't have to do anything, after all. You are injured, you'll stay here and-"

"No way, blyadj, you're not get ridding of me, d'Artagnan! Who would tell you you're doing something fucking stupid? Like this now," he grinned.

"Why would she lie? We saw one of those camps ourselves, Pavel, remember?!"

"You know how this works, chuvak. You take some pretty face, tell her to cry and be sad, she leeds men into some dark tunnel and _bam_!"

"It's not like that, Pavel, come on, even you can see that. What about the Musketeers and that saying of your? One for all? All for one?"

"Come on man, Artyomich, she's no Portos, _we_ are the Musketeers! You don't understand how this works at all, come on!" Pavel felt clearly very aggrieved that Artyom used that on him. "You can't just go around taking people in, its just two of us, chuvak. It's our thing. She's just some psihk woman."

Artyom felt irritated and nervous because of everything that was happening - he wanted to help her, he had to, he had to do the right thing, that would Dark Ones wanted, and he couldn't think right when Pavel was with him.

"But we aren't Musketeers anymore," he snapped at him - so much Pavel's amused grin disspeared off his face immediately. "We never were. It was just you and your plans. There is no all for one because there is only me and only you. You need to get back to the Red Line. Where your beloved order is in upside down and equality is avaiable just for the few on top," he looked at him in a mean way, probably for the first time.

"Don't you say this, Artyom," anger dominated Pavel's face in that moment but Artyom did not cared. "I haven't killed you, I am the same person as I was when we met, when you trusted me."

"And when we met, you were the same person that spreaded virus that killed almost everyone in Oktyabrskaya. You created disorder. You Reds do that, Pavel. It's the truth. No matter what you see,“ said Artyom, voice so firm and resolute Pavel couldn't find any words against him. „Here's your permit to the train,“ Artyom almost threw the piece of paper at Pavel, not waiting for any form of reaction. „If I don't make it, you can still get home. That is all you should need,“ he finished his sentence coldly and went right back to the Katya without even looking at Pavel.

He looked firm and sounded cruel, but his heart was beating insanely. He wasn't sure if he's doing the right thing, it didn't felt right, but he promised he will think with his head, didn't he?

 

„Alright. Let's show me the way. Do you have everything you need or do you want to stop somewhere else before we go?“

„Slava bogu, oh my-! I don't… I don't even know what to say, I didn't think you would really do it!“ Katya almost jumped and started to hugging Artyom. „I don't need anything, if you can, we should go as fast as possible, I don't know how much time he has...“

„I only need to send message to my people before we go, I will do it at the gates.“

„I know the way through the side tunnel. They wouldn't let us anyway, we just need to…..“

Pavel was watching Artyom and Katya walking away, their voices getting more and more distant and he was just standing there in the middle of the street, people passing by. He looked at the permit in his hand.

Did Artyom just abandoned him, just like that? He was still in shock because he never actually considered that option. He knew the young Ranger at least to some extend so he knew how kind Artyom actually is. He was still so childlishly naive in a way, but it seemed like he was finally growing up. Everything that happened must have changed him more than Pavel thought. Just like things changed him. Only that… Artyom seemed firm and confident in his decisions, whilst Pavel… was not.

And he felt alone again.

He despited this state of mind he was in – this disbalance, uncertainty. He remembered these feelings from the past he tried to forget so hard. It was all he used to know. And then, that one day, communism became his life.

But after everything, it brought him here, to this moment and situation. And thinking that order was everything for him, he decided to simply do the thing that felt like something that would bring the most of it back into his life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha! First bigger revelation in this chapter and a little action too. More about it in the note at the end, but yeah, man I am getting into writing this. I really hope mistakes are minimal, I'm trying. Enjoy! 
> 
> (Also, I started playing Metro 2033 yesterday since I last played it years back when it came out and man, it's pretty scary and hard game in parts! Don't remember it so eery! I must say that it has definitely a little more atmosphere than Last Light, but I still like second one overall a little more, not to mention it has a lot better checkpoint system, I was losing my damn nerves in some parts of Metro 2033 while playing stealth/good end...)

There was strange silence when Artyom and Katya walked through the tunnels. Mixture of all the emotions both had created bizarre atmosphere.

She was scared, so damn scared. Evgeni was all she had in a sense, her only blood relative. She was supposed to watch over him, she promised it to her parents. He and her partner were only two people that really mattered. And now she could just imagine what horrible things they can be doing him at this moment. Maybe he is dead already. No… She shouldn't think like that. She knew. But still… was scared, petrified.

And Artyom… He was questiong his every decision. It was so stupid – playing every single word he said in his head over and over again. Examining Pavel's face in his memories. Thinking of scenarios of how he could have done it better. Wishing the Dark One was here with him, guiding him, because sometimes Artyom felt like he is just uncapable of making the right decisions. Because after all that happened to him and what he was through, he was still so damn inexperienced. Sometimes he felt like all that was just coincidence and he doesn't even know how he ended up like he did. But it was also because he knew he is human – so imperfect and flawed next to the Dark Ones.

There was also little something he was suspecting in the corner of his mind but trying to not think about it. It was too late now anyways. And he had much more important things to pay attention to than his personal life.

 

„You look quite young… how long have you been Ranger, Artyom?“ Katya decided to talk because dark tunnel made her feel more and more desperate and thoughts in her head were getting worse and worse.

„About year and a half. I came to all of this… a little differently. I guess it was meant to be….“

„Chm,“ Katya sighted, thinking. „I would always say that to Evgeni. That it was meant to be. We would always try to teach him that… he can survive, no matter the disadvantages. Sure, he can probably never be soldier and he will always need someone to be his ears so he doesn't get killed but… he was always happy child. Sometimes, it's like he doesn't realize there is something different about him,“ she smiled but her eyes were full of pain. „How could I predicted this? H-How could it… Bog. Who knows what they are gonna do to him? These monsters… Mutants aren't even half as bad as them. Ublyudki,“ she cursed, turning her sorrow to anger again.

„We will find them and I promise you I will do anything in my power to help. There might still be time. And when we get back, we will bring proof of this all being truth. Hanza will have to deal with them after that.“

„Thank you so much, again, I… don't even know how I will repay you, god...“

„Sometimes we have to just help each other out in the metro,“ Artyom smiled at her. „To not forget our humanity. Not everything… has to be done because of the side motives. People should simply stick together...“ He sighted at the end as he felt pesimistic thoughts and feelings coming back.

How damn difficult was this dividing into fractions making everything…

But it was like this always, he thought. Maybe people are not able to be united. Maybe it is just their nature. That won't stop him from helping someone when he can.

„That's… very naive way of thinking,“ Katya had to admid with soft smile and Artyom just agreeably nodded. „But if that makes you the only damn person to listen to me and help… it's worth it then.“

Artyom just quietly turned his gaze to the tunnel before them again.

  
After some time, they were close to Rimskaya. They saw first sign of 'Do not enter!' fallen on the side of the trails. It was strange to think that several months back, there was station full of people and less months back, they would be met with Hanza soldiers guarding the way in with flamethrowers. This whole plague situation was incredibly sad and cruel – there was so few people in the metro, and not only mutants were killing them and they were killing themselves, but now this… It was just sad to see.

Artyom and Katya ended up standing in front of the big door leading to the station.

„It's closed and power is out,“ Artyom stated, unhappy, but already looking for another way in.

„There has to be something. They need to get in somehow… I will check this room and you can check the on on the other side,“ Katya said confidently but Artyom immediately stopped and looked at her worried.

„Maybe you should stay with me. There could be mutants _and_ Nazis hidding anywhere – none of it is good news.“

„I can take care of myself. I have this,“ she showed him a knife. Artyom did not wanted to discourage her and was pleased with how courageous this woman was but even the most courageous – and far more trained – people than her can easily end up dead. But she seemed determined and they really did not had so much time.

„Alright. Just take this,“ he drew out his revolver and handed it to her. „You can shoot, right?“  
„Few times, yes…. But… I can manage,“ she looked at gun in her hands and then again up at Artyom with confidence smile. He nodded and both of them went to the opposite sides of tunnel to the side doors. Artyom could feel that stink around – gasoline, something burnt and… strange scent that he could only describe as death. He exprienced plenty of that. He really hoped Katya will be alright, and further more that they will find the boy unharmed. He never understood this – adults having their stupid wars was understandable, but the moment kids were involved… it was like he couldn't believe humans can be to inhumane.

 

He froze as soon as he heard quiet noise and aimed his gun in front of him.

Probably just damn rats. He hated them so much.

After going further down the hallway and seeing few empty rooms, he came up to the wall where he could see some of the familiar, green light from radioactive mushrooms shining through the crack. Artyom came closer and saw he can move the plate from the wall. Behind it, there was small tunnel. That was probably it. Controls to the main gate were fried – destroyed by Hanza, so nobody can get in, but Nazis found a way and this was the way.

„You found it-“ Artyom quickly turned to Katya with a gun because he didn't heard her at all. She just jumped back with her hands up. „It's just me!“

„I could have shot you!“ Artyom sighed discontentendly. That could have ended up bad. But she was quiet – they could use that.

„Prosti, really. I guess I am just used to being unnoticable. There is nothing on the other side, just spiders and a skeleton. This must be the way,“ she looked into the hole.

Artyom firmly nodded.

„We must be careful now. There could be traps, or just Nazi patrols. No matter what, we need to be quiet. Shooting is out last resolt, alright? With a little bit of luck, we can do this without alerting anyone.“

„But you’re... gonna kill the bastards, right?“ She looked at Artyom with shock. „They are monsters and god knows what they are doing to people there, you-„

„First thing is finding your brother and doing it without making a fuss or else they could hurt him – understand? That is the most important part now. I will go first. Just do as I say and everything will be okay.“ Hopefully...

 

After they got into the hole, they slowly moved to the other side. After Artyom helped Katya out, they stood in one of the main tunnels and looked around. Gate was behind them and platform on the other side. It looked... Abandoned. Quiet and dark. Artyom wasn't sure if there really are some people but they couldn't go back, not now.

„It’s... okay to be scared, right Artyom? There’s this... strange atmosphere.“ She whispered with shaky voice so he turned on her.

„It's alright. We will make this and if something happens, I'm gonna protect you,“ he smiled to calm her down and it helped, a little. He felt strange too – this station used to be alive, people used to live there, but now... Nothing. Just this strange emptiness and scent of fire, fire that cleansed everything. It reminded him of Hole station. He had nightmares weeks after that, going through that place completely taken by mutants, boots wet from all the spilled human blood on the ground.

Maybe he shouldn't have taken her with him, Artyom thought. Maybe she shouldn't see what she's going to see.

Only way further was blocked by the train stopped in the tunnel. Artyom told Katya to wait and looked for any other way. All of the doors and ways out were baricaded. Some of the walls were burned to the pitch black. God knows what really happened here. Artyom could even find some of the things that probably belonged to the people who died. Teddy bears, photos, clothes. It must have been even worse here than what he experienced at Oktyabrskaya.

He remembered Pavel in that moment. He hoped he’s alright... Of course he was. And if not, it was only his fault.

He did what he did and couldn't regret it now. It was probably good choice. There was no certainty that Pavel would let him back through the Red line anyways. For all he knew, he could have let him get areested the moment they would step into Red Gates and then...

 

„Artyom? Are you... Are you okay there?“ He heard Katya’s worried voice.

„All right!“ He shouted back at her, realizing maybe a little too late that they shouldn't be too loud. „Nothing there,“ he said when coming back to the platform. „Let's go inside the train. It must be the only way. It's just really quiet here, no lights... I don‘t like it...“

„Da. We should hurry. I have a bad feeling...“

They entered train, Artyom leading the way. The wagon seemed clean and... Maybe too clean. It didn't take long for them to reach last wagon. There was door to the platform that was clearly used – the missing dust on the ground showed people passed through often, but it was locked. Only way was to break glass at the back window of the train. Artyom did it as quietly as possible, waiting several minutes after that to hear if the noise alarmed anyone.

„Seems clear,“ he said and cleared edges from the remaining sharp pieces of glass so he can jump through and then help Katya out.

In the moment his feet touched the ground, he felt something move and heard quiet trigger sound. Before he could get fully alarmed, Katya jumped down to him and next sound was excatly the same, but a lot louder.

„What the-“ they were both interrupted by mass of green smoke quickly coming out of the gaps in the floor. „Shit!“

Trap. Fucking trap, of course. It must have been activated by their weight.

Artyom quickly grabbed Katya and wanted to run to the platform with her, already grabbing his gas mask, but in the instant, he felt his body so damn heavy and light at the same moment... Before any of them could do anything, they fell to the ground like rag dolls, coughing, heads spinning and sight all fuzzy.

 

„Wha-tch.... What’s... Artyom?“ Katya was just lying on the ground on her back with mouth and and eyes wide open.

No no no no, this can't happen, Artyom thought. He was trying to fight his body, to control it, his heart was pounding in his chest so hard he could barely hear anything else. How could it work so fast? It hasn’t killed them yet, so what was...

„Do you... see it? Artyom?! Artyom!“ she started to scream out top of her lungs so Artyom somehow moved on all four and naively thinking he can somehow control the situation tried to crawl to her while looking around for whatever she sees.

It was too late when he realized she is just hallucinating because he was too – he saw huge rat, two times bigger than a human, coming from inside of the station.

He immediately started to tremble, his breathing quavering and loud.

„No no no,“ he took his gun out and aimed it at the rat but it proved to be a lot more difficult than normally – his vision was blurry and dark, he saw just contrasts, dark was darker and light almost blinding, not to mention his whole head and body were spinning so much he was getting sick. When rat made another step towards him, he fired, several times probably – he wasn't sure. All the noises were changing into strange hum. He couldn't even hear Katya screaming anymore, but that didnt matter because all Artyom thought existed in that moment was him and that monster.

 

„Artyom... You’re in danger, Artyom.“ Something broke through the illusion, but just faintly.

He knew the voice. It was so familiar. It felt like someone is trying to get into his head but that was just too much with everything that was happening.

Then he noticed more rats, they were surrounding him and getting closer, so he started shooting around without thinking. He even felt he hears them talking but couldn't make out what.

 

„Artyom. Hold on. Help is on the way.“ That voice, again...

Out of the sudden, someone grabbed him from the back and restrained his hands.

„What do we have here, huh?“ Artyom could barely hear that and wasn't even sure if it's real. The rat was still there, dissapearing and then emerging again, coming from the walls or the ground.

„A Ranger! Well look at that.“

„Shut her up, now! We’ll take her and shoot him. He would only make problems.“ Was there people talking? Or the rats? Everything was too much, Artyom’s hearts was getting so exhausted he worried it will just stop.

„Was-?!“

He heard shot from a gun.

„Fucking Nazis, ugh.“

He knew that voice, too.

When someone grabbed him again, Artyom started to fight back, his mind absolutely crazed by everything and getting worse with every minute.

 

„Come on, blyadj, Artyom! Calm down, come on, just...“ The moment Artyom felt gas mask on his face and breathed, it was like something struk him, his eyes started to burn, lungs got tight and head started to hurt like hell but... The noise got soften and when he blinked he... saw he is still in that tunnel, lying on the back with Pavel holding him and letting him rest on his lap. „Taaak tak tak tak. Hey, Artyom, can you see me? You back to being yourself now, huh?“ He was above him, watching closely his face. „You can fight like a beast, let me tell you,“ he chuckled but Artyom still looked at him with shock, trying to collect himself.

Pavel was looking at him from behind gas mask, which meant... Oh god, the gas.

The hallucinations.

„Katya,“ Artyom said quickly but his lungs started to burn from all the gas he still had in them so he started furiously coughing.

„Oh, hell! Almost forgot about her,“ Pavel said playfully and then carefully placed Artyom on the ground and left him there to fully get himself together. „We can't let pretty face like that die, right Artyom...“ he heard his voice moving away from him and while after that someone catching their breath. „Oookay, okay. It should ge alright, for now.“

 

Artyom finally garthered strenght to sit up. His head was hurting so damn much.

„What was that...“ He looked at Pavel confusedly. Katya was lying next to him with gas mask on, quietly whimpering on the ground but safe, for now.

„Who the fuck knows... Damn Nazis, that's what. Tch, suki. Probably some toxic gas. By the look of you, you both had quite some fun seeing things.“

It was all so real. There was no way to wake up from that, it was nothing like visions Artyom had on the surface. The voice he heard… he realized it was the Little One now. Even he couldn't get to him.

He looked behind him and noticed dead Nazi with hole in the head – he was without gas mask, so that meant Pavel gave his to Katya. Other one was close to her, he did had gas mask, but wasn't needing it anymore either.

„What are you doing here?“ Artyom finally felt like he has mental strenght for that conversation.

„Saving your life, no? Like the old days. What else would I do?“ Artyom was so damn exhausted, he didnt' have strenght to fight with Pavel, not to mention he just saved both of their lives, so there wasn't much space for that. „I got your back, like the good communist I am. We don't abandon out comrades when they need us, Artyomich.“ He sounded mildly upset, reproaching what Artyom did. „Maybe you were right, you know? If that kid really is there, we should help him.“ He changed his tone drastically and sounded a lot more serious and reasonable now.

 

„How did you get here that fast?“

„Well, I had to buy some weapon when you left me just with a knife and then... I know it here. I know few shortcuts.“

Artyom was watching Pavel with disbelief. Why was he always so damn confusing and contradictory? He could never know what he's gonna do.

„I'm sorry, Artyom, alright? I can be an ass sometimes, I know, I know.“

„Damn right you can,“ said Artyom with some detachment but to be frank, he haven't felt like pushing Pavel away again. „Idiot.“

„I missed you too, chuvak, tcha,“ he laughted but then quickly look behind because he though he heard something. Katya was trying to get up, but it was clear it was taking her petite body a little more time to worn the toxins out, so both men just waited. Artyom noticed this strange expression on Pavel's face he hasn't seen before. Then he looked at him and he was quiet for a moment before slowly opening his mouth, like he doesn't even want to do it.

 

„Me and my father traveled around here a lot, you know?“ He spoke in such soft and vulnerable way it catched all of Artyom’s attention. „He used to be merchant, even before all this. So that's what he did after. We had a lot of valuables from before so what we did was to ride around these far, smaller stations and sold people what they needed. It was working out, chuvak, it was… For some time. It wasn't the best way of life for a kid, I admit, but... I saw a lot! Saw all the mutants and weird shit in the tunnels. I was all over thee Metro. I wasn't sure where we will sleep the next day, da, or if I will even live to see it, sure, but it was the only way of life I knew,“ he shrugged his shoulders.

Pavel was suprised how easy it was to talk about it.

Because he never did, ever, with anyone.

„But then Hanza was formed and everything went to shit, Artyom. Yeah, it went to fucking shit. Blin... And my father – being the perfect example of post-apocalyptic man with life of fierceness and chaos,“ he unintentionally stressed the word and his voice seemed more and more tense, angry, „and survival, he decided to... survive,“ he chuckled. „He knew about some psychos in one of the stations who would give you shit ton of bullets for crazy stuff, like when you give them your kid or woman. They were some netsenzurnoye ex-soldiers who believed that consuming human meat will give you strenght and immunity to radiation or some shit, I don't know...“ Pavel snorted with disgust. „It was enough bullets for him to boost up his bussiness again I guess, so... He did it, Artyom.“

He was staring at Pavel with shock.

Not only because of what he heard but also... because it was Pavel saying it. Of course, he expected there might be some crazy reason behind why he was so obsessed, why he was so blinded and loyal to the communist ideology but this was not even close to what Artyom imagined.

 

_Look at the far stations! They freaking eat each other, sell their kids as slaves... it's like a Stone Age! Left to his own devices, a man becomes a beast. You know? Order... Or-de-r! Is all the matters, that's... that's our salvation!_

 

Oh, fuck...

Of course. Of course, it all made sense now, Artyom thought.

„So... He left me there. Saw him riding away, he haven't even turned back, no goodbyes or nothing.“ At first, it seemed Pavel is okay with telling the story but now the hurt and grievance in his voice became at lot more noticable. „But do not worry, Artyom, because I was saved!“ He sounded happy and... proud, all of the sudden. „They would have fucking eaten me but I was in luck. There were Red soldiers, send with mission to kill all of those damn freaks that day. So... That's how I met my _real_ father. He was a Major, just like I was. Funny, ha? He saved me and few others and took me in, adopted me. And I never fucking looked back.“

Artyom felt his heart ache and hurt with this intense pain but he was sure it was not due to the toxin, no, it was just...

„Pavel, I-“ they both looked at each other in this honest, real way and Artyom wanted to say something, anything, but Katya sat up all of the sudden, panically looking around.

 

„Evgeni, we have to...“

„Of course, of course, lets go!“ Pavel jumped on his feet and helped Katya up. He was glad he doesn't have to talk about it anymore, obviously. Artyom had no intention of letting that go but he understood that now is not the right time – they had to continue in their main mission.

„What was it? I still feel... Strange,“ Katya held her head while after getting up.

„Hallucinogen, probably with some other drugs.“

„We have gas masks now, so we should be safe from that,“ Pavel nodded.

„Quiet encounter is out of question now it seems,“ Artyom noted unplesantly.

„It doesn't seem like there is many of them. No Reich flags, no music, no nothing. Seems like maybe their leader doesn't even know they are here. Or they are just laying extremely low. Either way suspicious. There should be only few more of them if they really act by themselves because even their fucked up leaders wouldn't let them do whatever they’re doing here. Suki… Tch.“

„I just hope he’s alright....“ Katya seemed more and more worried and it was understandable. They lost lots of time. „He must be so scared...“

„Don't you worry, devushka. We will find him and everything will be great. We comrades have to help each other, right chuvak?“ Artyom had to ask himself if he isn't still hallucinating because this seemed like absolute opposite of what Pavel wanted before. But he was glad...

He was happy to see him again.

„There!“ she pointed on door with light coming from behind it.

„Opa! Tak tak, should be it. Lets kill some Nazis, huh?“ Pavel smiled at both of them, actually excited.

„Let's go,“ Artyom agreed and opened the door with gun ready in his hand. It was time to end it.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooookay, so... I have to say that I invisioned this backstory for Pavel literally the second he said what he said about far stations and order while drinking with Artyom. Is it weird? I hope not! I really feel like this backstory suits him and makes him a lot more interesting. I think it fits great with his philosophy and why he loves the communism so much, well I hope you like it too! Let me know! (ﾉ^∇^)ﾉﾟ And thanks everybody for kudos! Appreciate it a lot!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I feel like this chapter is not as good as previous ones, but that's just because I was having some other issues and I know that if I tried to make it perfect I would... well, never finished the damn chapter, because I'm damn perfectionist and so critical to everything I do. So I hope you will like it just a little bit. Now we can all start getting excited for some nsfw stuff and thangs, which I am really excited about, hah. Enjoy! And thank all of you for comments/kudos! It's very motivating!

Light was leading all three of them further and further through hallway. They could hear sound of some kind of generator somewhere in the distance.

There was multiple doors on the sides, a lot to cover, so the group had to split up – Pavel went to the side doors and Artyom with Katya slowly continued straight through the main hall.

The more blood splatters on the floor and walls they saw, the more they realized how messed up this whole situation is. She told them – she told Hanza soldiers, but they didn't even borthered to listen to her. While Artyom was disgusted by it and disturbed because he always saw Hanza as strict, but overall good guys, Pavel wasn't one bit suprised. This was totally unsuprising to him. With Hanza, it was every man for himself, always. He didn't understood how can anyone praise them and say bad things about Red Line. This seemed like the hell they always talked about.

 

When Pavel checked several doors and found nothing but some bullets and Nazi gear, he wanted to continue, but noticed noise coming out of the locked door he passed before. He came closer and tried to listen. It sounded like muted crying when he listened carefully.

It was definitely a female, not Evgeni, but he had to get inside and check anyways. Without thinking, he kicked the door and realized it was a bad idea when sharp pain ran through his side from the injured leg. He barely managed to stay standing.

„Blyadj!“ He grunted and with deep breath grabbed his leg. How could he forgot. „Damn you, d'Artagnan... Dead-eye _fucking_ shot...“ He didn't intended to just give up so right after pain got bearable, he tried opening the door with force again, this time with his whole body, hitting it with the shoulder.

To his suprise, door blasted open after second try, with him falling to the ground.

„Shit! Fuck...“ he cursed while getting up - like he didn't had enough damn bruises before. When he finally looked up and saw what's before him, he completely froze and just stared.

 

There was a young girl.

Tied up in chains like some animal, kneeling on the floor. She was so skinny she almost looked like a skeleton. Her hair shaved, face full of bruises, scars everywhere and her eyes... They were empty, blind.

Pavel made quick motion back, genuinely frightened by that sight and in the same moment, girl jerked away from him, crawled to the corner and started weeping.

„What the... H-Hey? Can you... Can you hear me?“ All he could think about was what the fuck are these Nazis doing here. They saw someone with head few centimetres bigger like a mutant so... like what did they saw people like her or Evgeni? That thought scared him even more, made him paranoid, so he started looking around.

He noticed small valves near the ground and that the green gas was coming out of them. Looking back at her, she... looked absolutely misserable but nothing like Artyom and Katya while being under it's influence. Were they holding her here for so long she was immune, or... wasn't she?

„Just tell me if you can understand, alright? Hey...“ he walked slowly towards her with one arm extended. When he was just few steps from her, the girl lashed out like a wild dog with her teeth out and inhuman growl. Pavel tried to dodge her but didn't have enough time so she grabbed him and dug her long nails straight into his chest. If he didn't just experienced it he wouldn't believe human is capable of something like that.

When he looked at her in shock, holding her hands and trying to get away from her, she turned her gaze up and... looked straight into his eyes.

That made Pavel dead scared if he wasn't already. He wasn't able to look away and...

„Take it off...“ He heard soft whispers in his head. „Take it off... Take the mask off...“

Before it could completely devour his mind, he did first thing instincts ordered him - took his gun out and pulled the trigger.

 

Panting and shaking, he threw her lifeless body off him and moved away, half expecting she will get back up. For several minutes, he was just sitting there staring at her, waiting and feeling her warm blood on his skin. But she... was definitely dead, yeah.

„Shit... Shit!“ He punched the wall behind him to get himself together. He had to get back to Artyom and Katya. This, all this, whatever they did, was beyond fucked up.

Whoever was that girl before all this... There was nothing human in her anymore, he could feel it.

When getting up, Pavel noticed notebook on the table next to the door so he quickly examined it. Half of it was in german but it seemed like it was some kind of diary that was supposed to focus on whatever process was that poor girl going through. He could see her information at the beginning – name, home station, weight and everything else.

Pavel took it with him, just like a proof if anything else and quickly ran back, as fast as his leg allowed him.

 

Meanwhile Artyom and Katya were trying to get behind bigger steel door that was clearly locked from inside. He left her alone and went to look for controls. After he found them and turned electricity off, he came back and began to open door manually.

They opened slowly but the did. Both of them knew that has to be the right way, Artyom felt it. Right before Katya wanted to crawl under, she heard noises behind her and immediately turned with gun aimed ahead. Her finger twitched on the trigger and she didn't shot Pavel just by sheer luck.

„Shit, it's you...“

„Pavel?“ Artyom turned too, suprised it took him so little time. When he saw him with blood all over his mask and clothes, he quickly finished opening the gate and jumped up. „What happened? Are you alright?“ he looked him up and down.

„I'm fine, I'm fine. That's… not my blood. Listen,“ Pavel looked at him dead serious. „We have to find that kid right now and then get the fuck out of here as quickly as possible, do you understand, chuvak?“

Pavel's stressing out of situation's importance scared both Artyom and Katya, like they weren't freaked out by all this till that moment.  
„Let’s go,“ Katya said quickly, clearly already worried out of her mind and not wanting to lost any more time. They all came through the door. Artyom was holding finger on the trigger, ready to shoot at anything that moves.

„What happened there, Pavel?“ He couldn't help but ask even though he knew he should concentrate and not chat. Pavel looked at him and his silence was saying more than any words, but then he sighted and shook his head.

„There is fucked up shit happening, Artyom. Maybe... You were right, you know, before, when we met. Maybe there is someone,... something, above us. And below... Or else I have no fucking idea what is going on here...“ He admitted. It was hard for Pavel to say that or even think about it but he couldn't just ignore what he saw. It wasn't normal. It wasn't illusion, it was real and unnatural. „We need to be careful chuvak, even with the masks on...“

Artyom agreed with a grunt and went closer to Katya. Pavel could take care of himself well, so he was more worried about her. And even more worried about what will happen if they find that boy and he won't be okay. How would she react, what would she do?

 

All of them stopped when they could clearly hear wheeping and crying from behind the door in front of them.

„Evgeni,“ Katya blurted out and wanted to run there but Artyom stopped her with hand.

„We’ll go first.“

„Yeah. Leave the hard work to men, vozlyublennaya, and don't worry,“ said Pavel, a lot more serious now, and went to the left side of the door, ready with a gun and nodding at Artyom so he can kick the door open. It was like the old days. Working together. _Musketeers_. They both realized it almost at same instance, looking at each other for breef moment before Artyom opened the door with force. First thing they noticed was the same green gas filling up the room. Second, they saw cages and – some empty, but three of them occupied.

„Evgeni!“ Katya screamed, running to young boy laying on the floor.

Artyom left her, carefully walking into the middle of room and watching two other prisoners with shock. There was young girl, maybe hardly sixteen, with gas mask on, sitting on the floor, crying. She also had visibly bigger belly and it took Artyom second before realizing what does it mean.

„Oh god...“ He said quietly, turning his gaze to man in the cage opposite of her. He had mask too, stared at Artyom from behind it and didn't even move since he saw him. He had only thin trousers on and that was all he wore – that way, Artyom could see his strange skin, full of blisters and unnatural colors.

 

„I can't get to him! Please, open... Just open the damn cage!“ Katya was losing her nerves from being so close to him but not able to hold him, kicking the bars and trying to get in like an animal.

„Are you... here to help us?“ Man said with weak, cranky voice and when he asked that, girl immediately looked up on Artyom, now dead silent.

„Please...“ She sobbed.

„He ran away. Knew you’re here...“ The moment Pavel shot lock from Evgeni’s gate, both prisoners winced with fear. Whatever happened to them here, it was bad, Artyom though while looking at them. This was all so damn bad… It was never ending, his constant disappointment with humans and them proving him again and again they are able of even worst things than he thought.s

„He needs gas mask, he can't just... Evgeni?“ Katya was already holding him in her shoulders and shaking with him, but boy was still unconsious.

„She's right, chuvak. The less of it he breathes in, the better. We can't let him like this, Artyom,“ Pavel looked at him with fear because all he could see was still that girl. He was afraid what that crazy gas did to that boy and he didn't wanted to just shoot another person, not to mention a little kid.

„I'm gonna find the valve and close it. Watch them,“ he didn't desitated and ran to second door in the room.

„Hey! Be careful, Artyomich!“ He didnt minded Pavel’s warning much, just ran through the door and up the stairs because that's where he heard the most noise.

In that moment, maybe he really enjoyed feeling like a hero for a while, maybe it was making his ego feel good, but he also wanted to help those people so bad, because nobody should suffer like this, or at all in that matter. It was moments like this Artyom felt like his instinct controls his body – instinct he never knew he had before all this. He didn't have to think, his body was just doing all the work, controlled by this animalistic, natural draw.

 

He was angry that the Nazi ran off but at least they were safe. They had to tell all of this to Hanza and make them listen no matter what.

When Artyom saw a vent, he quickly walked to it and started closing it. It was hard and rusty and he was getting tired – they walked all the way from Katai Gorod with Pavel and then he went straight here without any rest. But that was okay. He was through worse. And he was through worse alone. Just the idea how fast his mind got into liking and accepting that Musketeer thing they had with Pavel was insane to him. He shouldn't trust him, he knew. You don't trust people after doing lesser evil, but what Pavel did was so bad…. Yet still… He could just go past that so easy – so easy he felt like bad person, like those dead people were nothing, like he didn't saw little girls dying of that virus. But then, his mind and his heart were just saying completely different things…

Not to mention he wasn't concentrating because of it.

He didn't hear man slowly, quietly getting closer and closer to him from the back and when he heard him, it was too late because the Nazi hit him to the head with back of the gun so hard Artyom immediately fell to the ground uncounscious.

„You damn Rangers have to always ruin everything,“ he kicked him even though Artyom wasn't able to really apprehent it. „Almost one year of succesfull research. Destroyed in few minutes by you degenerates. I haven't got the time to… erase the traces, lucky for you and them, but at least I can kill Ranger. That seems exciting too. Maybe I will even kill that damn woman after. I told them they should have rid off her while taking the boy, but these damn idiots… Phe,“ he chuckled and pointed revolver on Artyom, „good they are dead. Same as you. If I had more time, I would have had so much fun with you, but-“ he smiled with sheer pleasure on his face and wanted to pull the trigger he didn't because someone else did. When the Nazi got hit to the back, he was in shock for a second and turned to face who did it but then he took another bullet, straight to the face.

„How many of you do I have to fucking kill,“ Pavel grunted and even after the men fell to the ground, he pulled the trigger another three time until his gun made empty noise, realizing he doesn't have bullets anymore. „Blyadj. Kill all of you lokhi….“ He was angry, more angry than he would usually allow himself to get.

Then he turned his gaze to Artyom lying on the ground.

 

„Hey hey hey, chuvak,“ he dropped the gun and quickly kneeled over him, hands on his shoulders and started to shake with him. „Come on, Artyom, oi, wake up! Davai, Artyom!“ Something started to grow inside him, something unbearably intrusive and annoying. Maybe panic. Fear. Concern.

He knew damn well to not just let him go alone. He knew that damn Nazi could have been around, of course he was supposed to know he would be around.

„Shit. You fucking idiot,“ he was still trying to wake Artyom up with more and more force, but those words weren't aimed to him. „Come on, Artyom!“ he raised his voice even more. When he touched back of his head, he found just a little bit of blood – not too much for it to be fatal, but still, he wasn't waking up and that freaked Pavel out more and more every second.

When he thought about it, he couldn't remember last time he was so worried over someone. He used to be worried over his status, over communist plans, yes, but never over people.

„You need to calm down. You need to calm down. Shit!“ he started to talk to himself in quiet, but nervous voice, his hands shaking. He couldn't see him breathing on his gas mask. He was, he was breathing, but almost imperceptible. „Artyom, come on, d'Artagnan, just wake up, okay? Der'mo! Fuck...“ It felt like damn panic attack. He knew his reaction isn't justified, logical, or maybe it was but he just didn't want to admit it. But it felt so damn sickening and horrible, just that state he was in. „Artyom,“ he repeated again with hand on his chest, his eyes darting around Artyom's face.

Moment – that felt like eternity – later, he breathed out all of the sudden, sharply gasping for air with his hands shooting up like he was drawning and trying to catch onto something.

„Blyadj! Artyom!“ Pavel quickly grabbed him, he himself in almost same shock. It took Artyom few second to wake up from the shock and start feeling pain, his memories coming back and him realizing what happened. He wearily laid back again with deep sign.

„You almost fucking had me, chuvak,“ Pavel laughted nervously to cover up how upset he still was with the situation and rested his hand on Artyom's mask, like he wanted to touch his cheek, like it was nothing. He looked into Artyom's eyes with considerable relief and just started at him before realizing what he's doing and quickly falling back, next to Artyom on the ground.

 

He leaned against the wall and breathed out deeply.

„Shit… All this fucking circus… I should have just got home and relax... I think I'm too old for this shit, Artyom,“ he smiled and then grabbed his leg with painful groan. It seemed that all that action and overstressing wasn't doing good for his injury. That was more than understandable. Pavel was actually in more pain than he would admit – going all the way after Artyom and Katya, then busting doors and running around. He was tired and weak and in pain but for some reason, when he was with Artyom, doing whatever he deemed as important doing, there was this permanent adrenaline rush he had that was just keeping him going, at least for some time.

„I'm so stupid,“ Artyom sighted, looking at dead Nazi. Like this was the first time. Every he made a mistake he could just scream at himself how could he. He was a Ranger. And in moment like this, he felt like maybe he really got this position by accident.

Even better soldier than him died though, that was true.

When he started to really get himself together, he looked at Pavel who was now just resting with closed eyes. He remembered that face he made when he was leaning above him and looking at him. He looked so…- No. No time for that.

„Where are they? You left them alone?“ Artyom realized right after.

„They're gonna be okay, don't you worry. The guy said there was only three of them - the Nazis. And she has a gun. I don't think she is going to let go of that boy just like that now.“

„They were doing this for some time. If we didn't heard Katya… Who knows how long would they continue this… ugh,“ he wrinkled his nose in disgust. Just fact this was happening was so disturbing. It only made him think about how much more instances of things like this there are in the Metro. And the things Pavel told him, about his past… When he realized, this wasn't so far from same kind of fucked up he exprienced, he looked at him again with concern. „What… did you saw, before? Whose is that blood, Pavel?“ Artyom lowered his voice, making it soft and careful.

 

Pavel didn't seemed pleased by the idea of talking about it, but after moment of silence, he sighted and looked away.

„There was some girl. She was in this room that was filled with that glass, but she didn't have gas mask on. She was just… there, for god knows how long. They had to make some kind of… fucking experiments on her. She wasn't… I don't know what she was seeing, Artyom, but she wasn't like you two, she seemed immune to that shit but… It made her...“ Pavel was trying to find word for what he saw. Half of him was sure it was all bullshit, that he was just imagining things, but then he remmebered how clearly he heard her in his head. She was in his head, she was.

He shivered and shook his head.

„I don't know... Not human. It was like when that fucking friend of yours crawled into my head.“

Artyom opened his mouth but then shut it again. It wasn't possible, but on the other hand – what does that even mean. What is possible and what not? There were things in the Metro, and in the world now, that they all just had to accept. New things. Terrifying things, but still... there was no other choice than just accept it for now.

„We just…let's just get out of here and go to Hanza. They need to be more wary after they'll know about this. This can't happen again,“ he sat up. His head was hurting like hell, but it wasn't too bad. Pavel was still sitting. „I'm sorry you… had to go through this, but… if you went back to Red Line, we would never get into this situation and help these people. You saved lives today, Pavel,“ Artyom said firmly, to encourage Pavel, but at the same time there was this respect and gratitude leaking through his tone. He didn't have strenght in him to be angry at him anymore, not now. It was too late.

Pavel chuckled a little and smiled to himself.

It was strange to feel like he did something good that has… nothing to do with communism. Maybe it was sad that he felt like this for the first time in years but it was good feeling. It felt right. As he would said in the past, these people were on the wrong side of barricade. They shouldn't be his concern because they weren't communists and hence their problems were caused by that exact fact but now he really felt for them. Just like that.  
  
And Artyom... saw him as a hero, maybe just a little. That thought warmed his heart maybe a little too much. It was stupid, he thought.

„Yeah… Sure, priyatel. We should go back now.“

 

So they did. They did went back to the room and found Evgeni in Katya's arms, sitting out of the cage, near exit and she seemed calmer. The girl was sitting close the her while the man was on the opposite side of the room.

„We heard shooting, is he...“

„He's dead. Proshlo. Done,“ Pavel assured them proudly and Artyom just nodded to confirm that. They all visibly relaxed.

„How is he?“ he looked at Katya.

„He was… it seemed that he had nightmares but then he calmed down when you turned off the gas. He looks like he is just sleeping now but I need to get him to the doctor.“ There was still a lot of worry in her voice but it was clear that she felt incredibly relieved now, holding her brother in her hands and knowing he is alive and unharmed, at least she hoped so.

„Of course. I'm gonna take him,“ Artyom immediately came to Katya and extended his arms.

„You sure, chuvak? It seemed you are gonna be fucking Belosnezhka* after he knocked you out.“

„Well you're not the one who's gonna carry him, are you?“ Artyom sneered at Pavel and then emphatically looked at his leg and even though Pavel hated feeling like a damn cripple he had to admit that he will be happy to finish the walk back to the station, probably finishing his pain killers in the process. Idea of him carrying some extra weight really did not seemed possible. „Can you two walk?“ Artyom looked at the prisoners. They both nodded, a little doubtfully but they did. „Alright. Let's… head back.“

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Snow White


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with new chapter! This one is little bit shorter in my taste, but only because if I didn't cut it, it would be opposite - too long. So I am already writing next chapter, do not worry, haha. There will be also some intimite action there. Enjoy and thanks for all the comments and kudos, as always! 
> 
> I don't know if to use some kind of "trigger warnings" (because this isn't tumblr) but I guess beware that there is mention of rape, so yeah.

„So… what exactly happened to you?“ Artyom asked carefully.  
It was a while any of them spoke. The group was already halfway back to the station – Artyom holding Evgeni was going first toger with the man, who he found out is named Pyotr, then Katya with the girl, Nadya, walking slowly behind them, with Pavel in the back, trying to keep the pace.

Pyotr looked at him and it was clear that whatever the answer was, it was traumatizing enough that asking the girl would be very bad idea because even he wasn't too ready to talk about it. He sighted and looked to the ground while walking.

„I was… I used to be soldier. They took me prisoner and then found out that… I don't fit their… stupid charts. My head was too big or too small or too wide, I don't remember. That man you killed… He was making experiments with radiation, before he invented that gas. He would… send me out there, on the surface, and then leave me there for hours. Throw me into radioactive water and all… kinds of other things...“

So that was why his skin looked so damaged. And not just that. He was alive, but visibly weak and… something was just wrong with him, something in his eyes was saying how sick he is. Artyom felt horrible just thinking about what he had to go through, it was so sick and evil.

„After few months they brought the girl,“ he lowered his voice and his tone extremely changed into this cautious and guilty one. „I did not understand. She was healthy, normal. There was nothing they could do to her, no reason. But then, they… They wanted to make me…“ He stopped talking for a moment because his voice cracked. He quickly looked back at Katya and Nadya – they walked together, hand to hand and she was consolating the girl, holding hand on her shoulder, protecting her. Pyotr looked back and hardly swallowed. „They wanted to see how… What exactly the radiation does, how will the… the ofsprings look,“ he looked at Artyom carefully and prayed with all his soul he doesn't see him as a monster, which wasn't even possibility. Artyom just stared at him, still somehow shocked by fact that human beings were capable of that. „I couldn't do anything, I… They would drug me or beat me up, I was trying not to hurt her but they just made me to...“

„That's alright," Artyom interruped him when he saw that terror on his face. „You don't have to talk about it anymore,“ Artyom said firmly and made face serious enough for him to understand that he is on his side. „They are dead. They are dead and… Hanza will take the responsibility for this. I swear it,“ he frowned.

All of those monsters were dead but who knows how many times Hanza just ignored people begging them to look for their missing loved ones? This all could have very likely been avoided. All this suffering.

 

„I won't… last long, anyways,“ he smiled sadly. „They won't even let me go back...“

„I will do everything I can to get all of you help you need,“ Artyom continued. He was a damn Ranger – he had this power and he had to use it to help them. He wished Dark Ones could help him. If he could just get back… They knew how to destroy human's mind, so they were able to heal it too. But that would be selfish, he reminded to himself. No matter how much pain, it's their pain and their problem. Caused by other humans. Dragging Dark Ones into this again could end a lot worse. „We will tell them everything, we have evidence,“ he looked at Nazi uniform he was holding in other hand while Evgeni slept on his chest. And Pavel had the notebook. It was enough. „And if she will tell them what you did, I will explain-“

„She won't,“ Pyotr said immediately. „She… She won't. She's a good, smart girl. She's just… really hurt,“ he pursed his lips. He knew nothing evil he did he didn't do because he wanted, but still...  
Artyom wondered who were these people before this happened to them while looking at the broken man. They were certainly someone comletely different now. There was no way of staying same after this.  
„I hope she's gonna be alright… Sometime in the future,“ he then added quietly, looking away.

Artyom wanted to say something soothing but eventually stayed silent. There wasn't much he could say. These people were traumatized, hurt, changed. Words weren't going to help, especially not from people who have not been through things half that bad. They just needed time, a lot of it.

 

„I'm gonna go check to the back. Don't worry, there shouldn't be anyone, alright?“

Pyotr nodded. He was tired and weak, but on the other hand, he felt like seeing mutant wouldn't scare him so much thank to all the horrible things he has been through. He had nothing much to loose anyways.

Artyom walked calmly to the back, smiling at Katya when he passed her, showing her Evgeni is alright and sleeping. Nadya didn't looked at him much, she was just feeling very uncomfortable and scared walking out on the open because she was locked in that small space for such a long time. When Artyom reached Pavel, few feet after the girls, he stopped and waited for him to catch up.

„We can stop for few minutes if you need it,“ he looked at him with worry, but he just distinctly shook his head and continued walking.

„I'm not a damn cripple, alright? I'm not. It's just some pain, I can endure it, I can endure it. I had some more pain killers, so it's… good. It's good, yeah,“ he said fairly confidently so it made Artyom feel a little better but he was still worried about him. He even started to feel bad because he was the one who shot him even though in that moment, he didn't have other choice.

„Katya said she will let us sleep and eat over at her place. I mean… she pretty much demanded it.“

„I know, I heard,“ he chuckled. „Do you think he's gonna be alright?“ Pavel looked at the boy right after that and suprised Artyom with his honest concern.

„He will.“ He had to be. And Artyom had this feeling that he will be. „I can't believe what we did. What happened. I've seen... things more insane,“ Artyom smiled a little for himself, remembering all what happened to him, because sometimes he forgot that he was in any way special, he sometimes forgot he wasn't just that normal, rookie boy that haven't left Exhibition, „but still. Did it really happened?“

„Maybe you're still having hallucinations. We'll never know,“ Pavel said blithely and shrugged his shoulders which made Artyom honestly a little paranoid, but then Pavel started to laugh. „I knew it will freak you out, chuvak!“ He was obviously having a lot of fun, mostly so he doesn't have to think about the pain he's in so much. Artyom smiled and looked forward, checking on Pyotr.

 

„I think I owe you now for saving my life twice now,“ he said in a quiet tone. Maybe he did big things, important things, but he always felt so damn useless when people kept saving him and helping him. Of course, he understood it was just his ego telling him t hat – he knew people need to help each other, that nobody is perfect or capable of dealing with everything alone, but he still couldn't help the feeling.

And it felt good being saved, it did. Someone saving your life is situation full of emotions and feelings no other event in your life gives you. It makes you bond with that person in some strange, unnusual way and Artyom felt that bond. Maybe it was because they saved each other's lives bunch of times. He felt safe with Pavel, and he usually didn't needed to feel safe – he was used to life being full of risks and so unstable but it felt different when he was with him. Not to mention he knew he shouldn't feel safe with someone who betrayed him and literally tried to kill him.

„Didn't you technically saved my life before, huh? You know chuvak, I kind of lost count,“ Pavel chuckled. „Not that there is any. We are Musketeers. All for one and one for all, that's just how it is, that's what we do!“

Artyom automatically smiled but right after that, the thought of his resolution of not falling for this all over again came to his mind and corners of his mouth fell down a little.

„Nu nu nu, davai, Artyom!“ Pavel saw him and blurted out discontentedly. „Don't do this after all that shit, come on. We are exactly like the Muskeeters, come on, say it! Say it, d'Artagnan,“ he got it into his head that he will make Artyom say it and accept it, out loud, no matter what. First, Artyom wasn't too happy and felt uncomfortable, but he knew he's just lying to himself if he still acts like things haven't changed. It was definitely stupid and naivne how quickly he could forget him – at least partially – but nothing changed the fact that he did, nothing changed his feelings. „Huh? Cooome on, cooome on, say it nicely, loud and clear,“ Pavel was thrillingly enjoying his succes while watching Artyom's lightly blushed, conflicted face.

„We are,“ he grinned at little, looking away from Pavel, laughting at himself in his head.

„Chto? Chto, Artyom? I didn't hear you,“ he was getting more and more tense, but still just for the sake of comedy. Both of them knew they are acting like little boys, playing around it, around stupid words, when two people who just came through hell are in front of them and other one in Artyom's arms, but it felt good to just joke around. They both relaxed thanks to it and all they saw just felt a little easier.

„We are Musketeers,“ Artyom finally said it seemingly forcibly but then breefly smiled at Pavel.

„That's the spirit, chuvak! O-ba-na, yeah!“ Pavel got so excited by his little victory that both girls turned to him, so he immediately tried to look sad and misserable again but his smile was forcingly coming back on his face, making it almost impossible.

 

„You satisfied now, huh?“ Artyom quietly chuckled.

„Damn right I am,“ he slapped him over shoulder like they were old friends. „Look! We survived all this shit! That wouldn't happen if it was someone different, but we are Musketeers, so we made it!“ Sometimes, Artyom couldn't understand this attitude Pavel had. He could switch from angry ruthless soldier from the Red Square to the goofiest, most easy-going person in a second. Like they were two different people. He knew people like that, who were very positive even through that overall very shitty situation humanity is now in, he knew jokers like Ulman but never someone who had this strange form of innocent cheeriness. It wasn't even that Pavel looked at everything positively, he wasn't just seeing rainbows and sunshine, he was like this, but still realistic, still flawed, he was just enjoying little things to the fullest.

Maybe that was from his time before coming to the Red line, Artyom thought. Probably. Life must have been complicated for him. He had to learn a lot, adapt to a lot.

„You really made me worried there for a second,“ he completely switched again all of the sudden, making Artyom stop his trail of thoughts and look at him. „I thought that bastard knocked you out permanently. Wouldn't be much of a 'Musketeers' if there was only one, huh?“ Pavel genuinely sounded kind of upset when saying it, his joy was replaced by this depressing gloominess in his face.

Artyom was staring at him with suprise.

He knew Pavel is just really into this whole thing but till that moment he didn't think that he is _really_ emotionally... bonded with him in any significant kind of way. He was actually just thinking about how stupid he is for having any kinds of feelings for him.

It wasn't like it would be the first time.

 

„Maybe you should get back to them, Artyomich. I will slow down a bit for a minute.“ When he spoke again, his voice was warm, but he tried to sound distant at the same moment. Artyom noticed he clearly wants to be alone, pushing him away because he felt uncomfortable for whatever reason, so he just nodded and walked ahead.

„We should be at the station in few minutes,“ he told Katya while getting to her and let her stroke Evgeni's cheek as he was passing. Pyotr seemed a little more tired, but it also looked that he was glad for some time alone – just walking was helping him think. About past, about future, about what's gonna happen now. So they didn't talk, just walked next to each other.

Artyom needed to think too.

He would get them back to Kurskaya and make sure everyone will be alright. Then, he and Pavel will get some sleep and head to the train leaving the next day. And then… He hated himself for how thought of Pavel and him taking seperate ways in Komsolomskaya makes him feel. He definitely did not wanted to feel like that. It was stupid and extremely inconvenient.

 

There were things Artyom succesfully hidden from most of the people in his life. Sometimes he felt ashamed, other times just embarassed or stupid.

He hated how easily he can get attached to people. It would be horrible if his fellow Rangers, people who have respect for him now and see him as skilled, tough soldier knew, how easily he can get crush on someone and fall for them. It was something Artyom had to constantly control. He could see the good people and fall in love with it. He could get just charmed by someone without no real reason – it was all completely illogical and idiotic, because that's how feelings work.

How would his colleagues react if they knew Artyom can be like damn teenage girl in this sense? There was no way he is ruining his well being with becoming constant target of jokes and taunting. And there was no real reason to tell anyone anyways. No one to really trust.

There were some people he could call friends, some of the Rangers. But mostly he would work alone and be alone, because he felt comfortable that way. Crushes were one thing, but he was Ranger – he kind of knew there is not much space for relationships. His last one ended up with the other person dying, so he just felt like there is no point.

Some of the others even knew that Artyom 'swings the both ways' because he never directly denied anything and sometimes dropped some light hints. He was okay with that. In his mind, sexuality was one thing. Then there was the emotional part which was the main thing he was ashamed of.

He never really worked that out…

 

When Artyom realized Pyotr suddenly stopped, he did the same and quickly looked to see what happened. He didn't even realized it but the were in front of the gates. He turned to Katya and relief in her face said it all. Nadya and Pyotr on the other hand, didn't seemed so happy. The looked quite nervous, maybe even scared. Artyom haven't even asked how long exactly they were there – counting that they would be even able to tell – so they were probably just getting ready to step into heavily populated station after seeing just few similiar faces every day for several months.

„Open the gates!“ he shouted and not long after, the light turned on. „Everything is going to be good, I promise,“ Artyom looked at everyone, absolutely positive that he will not fail this mission and them. Pavel just catched up with them.

„We won't leave you, alright?“ Katya squeezed Nadya's hand. „I just… I need to get Evgeni to the doctor but other than that, we will take care of you. Do you have family here somewhere? Can you remember?“

Nadya looked as scared and confused as the whole times but after a moment nodded.

„I… I had family in Baumanskaya… Before everything.“

„We will make Hanza arrange everything. They will do it. They will,“ Artyom looked at Nadya seriously. He knew he needs to keep his cool. No matter how much angry he was at Hanza and how much of their fault this was, he had to confront them with cool and confidence. That is only way they will listen.

Gate started opening, slowly, and not long after, two guards came out. They noticed Artyom's Spartan uniform and remembered him because he was the only Ranger in the station in the last several weeks.

„How did you get here all of the sudden?“

„What the hell?“ second soldier looked at three new incomers with confusion. „Who are these people?“

„I need to talk to your boss. Right now. It's urgent and extremely important.“ One could almost physically feel that sudden change in Artyom's energy and his stance – he got so rough and intimidating all of the sudden even Pavel was suprised where it came from. He wasn't only one – two soldiers just looked at each other and then quickly agreed, letting all of them pass and hurrying to the superiors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I always imagined Artyom would be like this. Most of the people, including me sometimes, usually forgets that even through he is badass protagonist, he is also 20 something man. He's quite young, most of the time in company of much older and experienced men. I always saw Artyom as someone naive, good hearted and kind of romantic behind all that badassness and saving the world. But maybe it's just me! (from what I know, in the books, he is quite melancholic, kind hearted and passionate reader, so it should fit)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW, I KNOW! It took me a-g-e-s to write this chapter, ghh! This week was literally killing me, every time I would get back from work I would sleep because I would get home by midnight, so duh, and then I would sleep rest of the day and go to work again. Every damn time I tried to continue this I would just stare at the pages, horrible. Well I finally got some inspiration and finished this! Yay. There is nsfw stuff in this chapter, which I am sure I don't have to warn you about lol. Still not what we want, but at least story is progressing. Thanks for the support!

It took two hours of arguing, shouting and haggling before both sides came to the agreement. Artyom overall accomplished what he intended – they showed the leader all of the evidence and made them send squad to investigate immediately. They made them issue apology to both Nadya and Pyotr. He was send to the doctor together with Katya and Evgeni and the girl was prepared to be accompanied by group of capable men to her home station together with compensation in the form of bullets, same as Katya.

After situation calmed down and Artyom finally left the office, he found her with Pavel at the doctor's.

„How is he?“ He asked right after he walked in. Young boy was lying on the hospital bed, Katya sat next to him, holding his hand, and Pavel was on the other side of small space, also sitting.

„They don't know what it was, but it seems like it's mostly caused collapse of his nervous system. It was just too much for him… Doctor said they can't… really know how it affected him mentally, we can only know that when he wakes up but… He should be just traumatized. Hopefully. He is getting rest, some vitamins and he's warm. That's all he needs...“ she smiled mildly. She was definitely still worried but all that mattered was that he was okay, home, with her.

„I'm sure he's a strong boy. He will get even stronger from this.“

„You both have to be so tired after all that,“ Katya sighted and got up. She stroked Evgeni's hand for the last time before facing Artyom. „My home isn't far. He needs to stay here and I have to go and let my other half know I'm okay – that we're both okay. And you need to get your well-deserved reward.“

„We can stay here with him a little longer, if you want to,“ Artyom argued right away, not used to people offering him nice things just like that. He didn't do it for that anyways.

„Net net net! I need to go home. You need rest – we all do. Doctors will take care of Evgeni, there is nothing else I can do now... I will run here the minute he wakes up,“ she smiled at Artyom and them looked to the man in white few beds away who nodded at her with warm smile. It seemed the boy is in good hands for now.

„Alright. Alright,“ Artyom finally agreed. He really was incredibly tired and hungry. They all got up and slowly walked away after Katya looked back at Evgeni few last times. Pavel was unusually quiet but Artyom decided to ignore that. He must have been in even more pain than him and it also seemed something… changed in him, realizing with how many things he opened up. He probably just needed some time to think.

 

Katya led them to her home. While walking through the station, they could see few Hanza soldiers gearing up at their post. That made Artyom feel good inside. He did something good. He changed something, hopefully.

After going through busier parts of the station, they got into section with people's rooms and homes. Katya walked all the way through long line and then turned left. Her home was at the very end of the station, not far from second gate out. It was nice to get away from the noise and rush.

They finally stopped at one of the doors. Katya seemed nervous and excited, quickly grabbing the door handle and opening it.

„Tasha,“ she blured out and stood in the door until the black haired young woman cooking at the stove turned to her.

„Oh god, Katya!“ her eyes lit up and she just threw spoon next to the pot, rushing to her and hugging her, kissing her and laughting.  
Artyom and Pavel looked at them rightfully suprised. She never actually talked about a man, but… This wasn't something too usual. In a world where human population has to do everything in it's power to survive, society is more set towards having children and keeping bloodline alive. Artyom heard that it used to be more accepted, at least in the rest of the world, before the war, before everything. It was just strange to see it now. „You were away for so damn long!“

„I know, I know,“ she petted her short hair with smile. „Prosti. I was just… ach. They wouldn't help me find Evgeni, they wouldn't even listen to me, so… I met this Ranger and his friend and they helped me save him. They killed them and send Hanza to investigate,“ they finally let go of each other. „They will listen next time, he made sure of that. His name is Artyom. Without him… I don't know what would happen,“ she turned to him with grateful smile and tearful eyes.

„That's okay,“ he immediately tried to get rid of the unwanted attention – he didn't wanted their praise, he felt good with himself and that was enough.

„Thank you so much, Artyom,“ Tasha came to him and squeezed his hand. „Thank you. You have no idea how important is Evgeni to her. She wouldn't stoped looking for him till it would killed her,“ she said, clearly glad that didn't have to happen.

 

„Hanza gave us this, like an apology,“ Katya showed fist full of bullets to her partner „It would be enough if they just fucking listened to me before, but… ugh, doesn't matter now. Everything is alright and this will be usefull,“ she looked at her hand.

„Yes,“ Tasha said with calming voice and kissed Katya again, still only realizing she is really home, safe and she doesn't have to worry about her or Evgeni anymore. „I was so angry I couldn't go with you. I work in a kitchen, they wouldn't let me go. I felt so useless. It's good… you were there,“ Tasha looked at Artyom and then Pavel, who was just quietly standing behind him the whole time, face still in shock and speechless.

„I promised them food, good sleep and anything else that will make them happy. After all that, everything that is ours is also yours now,“ Katya waved with her hand to signalize they can go inside. It was bigger room than most people have, probably because there was also Evgeni living there. For three people, it was enough. They had stove, small table and some mattresses in the corner. There was also another room with bed and some toys on the ground – that was probably their bedroom.

„Of course. Just sit, sit sit sit, and relax!“ Tasha grabbed Artyom and made him sit at the table and then did the same with Pavel. It took only few minutes and smell of fresh soup to both of them to loosen up. The food was great and just the fact they didn't have to be constantly ready to fight for their life was wonderfull too.

After dinner, both women went to check on Evgeni to the hospital so Artyom and Pavel stayed inside alone. Pavel was relaxing on the mattress, leaning against the wall and stretching his leg, and Artyom cleaning his gun, sitting on the chair.

He could feel his eyes closing – he would definitely fell asleep right away, but he wanted to wait for Katya and Tasha to get back. His belly was full of great food, alrought he didn't ate as much as Pavel who had to be a lot more hungry than him because he ate literally everything he could.

 

„You are unusually quiet since we got here,“ said Artyom after several minutes of silence and looked at Pavel breefly, while he continued with cleaning parts of his weapon. Pavel made some indefinite sound and turned his head. „Are you _that_ suprised by this?“ Artyom continued. Maybe he was just regretting telling him all these things about himself, he thought. He never really knew with Pavel. Why he does what he does or what is he thinking.

„Sure I am,“ he chuckled, but sounded mildly disgruntled.

„Why?“ he turned to him and Pavel looked at Artyom for a moment before looking away again.

„It's just wrong, Artyomich... It's not how it's supposed to be.“ He seemed almost insulted by it all for some reason. Artyom felt a little set back but on the other hand, he wasn't too suprised.

„Is this thing so wrong in communist ideology?“

„Come on, chuvak, this has nothing to do with me being red. This has something to do with this being unnatural and bad for the society. Prosto plokho. The main purpose for the humans is to survive, right? Right. If they are like this, what will they contribute? They won't have children, they won't be happy. They have nothing, Artyom. It's just stupid,“ he said firmly. Of course, it had something to do with environment Pavel came from. He was just repeating what he was taught all over again, because he believed it, he wanted to believe, it was giving him peace.

„They seem happy to me, Pavel,“ Artyom turned to him again, still sounding calm, because he began to understand that that's the way to approach him. „If you knew, you wouldn't help her?“

„I would,“ he answered swiftly like it was stupid of Artyom to even think that. „I would, sure. It's just…“

Artyom could see that conflict in Pavel's face again. He was saying one thing but his body language was tense and unsure, saying something else. It wasn't suprising for him that he didn't approved. He hoped he would but he knew how strict life in Red Line is and that everyone needs to believe only one thing as the right one. Of course they would value family and heritage and normality. He was living amonst only soldiers for so long that he almost forgot how important that is for people. He got used to living every minute ready to die for a good thing. There wasn't much future planning or thinking about family for him...

 

Before he could answer Pavel, doors to the room opened and Katya with Tasha came in.

„We're finally back. I'm sorry you had to wait.“

„Everything alright?“ Artyom asked carefully and with one last movement clicked his gun back together, clean and ready, putting in on the table.

„He woke up,“ Katya's face was full of joy when she said that. She looked a lot fresher than before, when she was worrying so much. „He is confused and a little traumatized, but they didn't have time to do anything too bad to him. He said he saw things and has horrible dreams... Probably from the gas... They will let him stay in a hospital for the night, just so we can be sure he has everything out of his system,“ she nodded and deeply breathed out with relief, holding Tasha's hand. „Everything is alright now… Thanks to you.“

„I'm really happy to hear that.“

Katya smiled and then shared strange look with Tasha. Both Artyom and Pavel noticed, so they just watched them with anticipation, because it seemed like they are getting ready to say something important.

 

„You already know how gratefull we are,“ Tasha began, starting with something they both planned on the way back.

„Yes, of course. There's really no need for more thanks.“

„You saved my brother's life. There is nothing that can measure what that means for me. So… anything we can give to you, to thank you for it, is our pleasure.“ Artyom didn't had time to blink or think about what she means before Katya swiftly sat on his lap. For a second, he was in shock, confused with whole situation and what turn it took.

„Wh-“

Meanwhile, Tasha sat next to Pavel who was similarly taken back by everything.

„With the life we lead, we had to understand how to live it as happy and seamlessly as possible. We had to understand that this is men's world and this is what men want. Every man does. There are the ones who just take it and then there are good men who wouldn't do it, who can put it aside. You are good men, we know that,“ she was putting her hands around Artyom's neck and slightly moving her pelvis. „This isn't anything wrong. We _want to_ do this to thank you.“

„If it's all we have to do to pay back for Evgeni's life, it's nothing,“ Tasha continued.

Artyom and Pavel quickly shared panicky, and rather confused look.

„This really isn't necessary,“ Artyom looked up at Katya but both of them could see that his breathing is slower and deeper, his body tense and heartbeat faster, already giving positive answer to what she was doing.

„I know you wouldn't do something we don't like. You're not like them. They don't care about anyone and anything but themselves,“ she slowly caressed Artyom's cheek. „We got used to this. It's not something we enjoy too much,“ she chuckled, „but we can do it. It's just sex.“ She was talking slowly and carefully, little by little moving her hand down till she reached Artyom's crouch and he shuddered. „It's not us making love, it's us giving you something that feels good,“ she opened zipper on Artyom's trousers with one move and she saw how drugged he already is with his own pleasure creeping out.

 

In a way, he understood what she was saying. He understood this was inevitably something that girls like them had to do. It had nothing to do with their orientation or with what they like, but it was something that gave them power and they wanted to use that power to say thanks. He knew it was their choice, they didn't have to do it, at least that was what his mind was repeating, trying to shut down his brain and just make him enjoy the feelings his body was bringing up.

„Alright,“ he almost whispered, voice shaking, and quickly looked at Katya to make sure she isn't uncomfortable but she just smiled and fully gripped Artyom's manhood. He immediately grabbed her at the back of her neck, burrying his face in her chest, so nobody can see his reactions.

It was while from last time he could blow of some steam like this.

There usually wasn't enough time or right moment for it. He was constantly working or traveling between the stations. He loved burrying himself in work and he often forgot about his own needs. He had them, he wasn't ignoring that, but he did that only when necessary. Artyom never saw too much in doing that stuff alone. It seemed kind of sad and useless to him – of course, it makes you feel good and lifts some weight, but he always liked it more with other person, it was more meaningfull and enjoyable that way. And he was never too lucky with relationships, so it inevitably became something he just didn't payed too much attention to.

But now… Oh boy. He felt his body heaten up so fast and so much... It felt like a dream. Like a damn beautiful dream.

Pavel on the other hand, was a little less relaxed. Tasha was crawling onto him, giving him soothing smiles, wrapping her hands around his neck and kissing him there, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. Pavel was watching Artyom, with his head down, breathing loudly, clenching Katya's neck, his boots firmly braced against the floor.

„Relax,“ Tasha whispered, took Pavel's hand and navigated it towards her breast while getting into his pants. Her breast was warm and soft and very considerable in size, it was almost perfect. „You can do whatever you want,“ she was trying to satisfy him somehow because she could feel how tense he was. But she knew he is injured, so she was going easy on him, and stayed patient.

 

„That's right,“ Meanwhile Katya was more than succesfull with seducing Artyom, who was already hard and ready for action. He couldn't believe how good is that making him feel – simply someone close to him, someone warm and soft. It was like he forgot how good that feels. Katya lifted herself a little, stripping down her pants and underwear. „Trust me, I am more than happy to do this after everything you did for me, for us. So just enjoy this,“ she was talking smoothly and seducively. She knew what she was doing. Not that it took a lot for Artyom to get aroused in his state, but Katya learned how to get what she wants just by sheer power of her femininity.

She firmly grabbed Artyom's penis and started to slowly lower herself onto it. It made him twich, his cheeks burning from passion and shame because he felt like a little teenage boy, holding in moans a grunts, thirsty for that feeling of release.

He could feel someone watching him, but he was too occupied to pay attention to it. But Pavel _was_ watching him. His blue eyes full of insecurity and fear, confusingly observing two of them – watching Katya filling herself with Artyom's manhood. He couldn't see much over her leg but he could hear Artyom. It was painfully obvious he is enjoying it.  
A lot more than Pavel was.

Tasha was still working on his croach. He was supposed to feel the same wonders as his comrade – he had beautiful woman between his legs afterall, sucking on his dick, trying to make him feel good, but no matter how much she was trying, there was nothing much happening and it was making Pavel nervous, tension building up in his chest, but not the kind of tension they wanted.

 

„Oh yes. Yes,“ Katya smiled, biting her lip, when Artyom finally let out moan, coming a little closer to the edge. The chair was creaking as she was moving in his lap up and down and it was wonder that Artyom had the concentration to hold them still on the chair while all that was happening.

He finally lifted his head up, with mouth slightly open, panting, and eyes half empty as he wasn't really thinking with his brain in that moment. Even though that, he noticed Pavel's unconfortable look directed at him. He wasn't thinking about the situation, really. Yeah, it probably was strange to look at each other like that, while Katya was fucking him – it should be strange to look at another man in that situation, but Artyom wasn't thinking about that so… they did. They looked at each other, just like that.

Pavel was studying Artyom's face, so very different from what he usually saw. He looked so erotic... His forehead glistening with droplets of sweat and his blue-green eyes empty but so intense at the same moment.

He couldn't look away. He didn't want to look away.

Finally, with electricity going up his spine, he felt something down there, something... so nice. Something beautiful and exciting. She was touching him and sliding her tongue up and down, trying hard, but he knew she is not the one doing it, Artyom was.

The moment he realized that, he froze, fear immediately finding its way into his mind and paralyzing him.

„Stop it….“ he breathed out quickly, voice shaking, his cheeks so hot it was burning. 

„But it's starting to-“

„I said stop it!“ Pavel roughly pushed her from himself and got up, immediately storming out of the room to the door. „Blyakha,“ he quietly grunted on the way, before slamming the door. Tasha, Katya and Artyom all froze in shock for a moment.

„I…. I don't know what I did...“ Tasha blinked and looked most confused out all of them.

Artyom needed few more seconds to cool down and realize what is happening and why Katya stopped her motion so close to the finish. When he realized how Pavel looked at him before he stormed of, he frowned and sighed.

„I think… I think he's just in pain. He's injured, he…“

„We probably shouldn't have done this, right?“ said Katya, still sitting on Artyom with his whole lenght inside herself and visibly hesitant. „I'm sorry, I hope you won't...“

„No! No, it's alright, it's okay,“ Artyom closed his eyes for a moment. Fuck... Just few more strokes and he would get there. Doesn't matter now, he thought. It's done. After letting out deep breath, he carefully took Katya and helped her get up. She awkwardly sat to the mattress next to Tasha. „I'm gonna go and talk to him. It's not your fault, really. It will be fine, just let me talk with him. We will be back,“ he smiled at them, trying to hide his own dissapointment. It was wrong anyways. He probably shouldn't have done that. After zipping his pants and overall getting himself together, he went outside to find Pavel.

 

He wasn't angry at him. Firstly, he knew it's Pavel. And secondly, he selfishly enjoyed his own pleasure meanwhile forgetting that he was injured and tired and living on the streets for several months just few days back. They saved three people today. They did so much in last few days, it was understandable Pavel was nervous and not completely himself.

All the things he told him about himself made Artyom care for him even more. He really didn't wanted him to feel bad or be in pain, now when they have been through all that together.

He saw him few feet away, sitting close to some fading campfire locals probably used around there. He was alone there, looking to the ground, anger in the face.

Artyom walked slowly towards him.

When comrade noticed him, he sighted, angry but insecure at the same moment.

„Oy, chuvak, you should have… stayed there and finished it, alright? Why the fuck are you going after me, huh?“ he was turning his head and nervously clattering with his boot on the floor.

„Doesn't matter now,“ Artyom sighted. „You seemed pretty in rush, huh?“ he put his hands on his hips. „Are you in pain, Pavel?“

„Nah, I'm alright, priyatel! I'm um, great. I'm great,“ he quickly nodded, realizing he has no idea what he wants to say or how to explain what happened. He wanted Artyom to just go back, or forget what happened straight away but that wasn't going to happen.

Definitely not going to happen. Artyom was patiently studying him, watching, waiting.

From what he saw or at least how Pavel presented himself, before, he would say that someone like him would take that opportunity with joy. He never actually saw Pavel with woman, true, but it seemed like he enjoys their company. Hell – most people in this situation do. Artyom was tired too, but that didn't stopped him from getting right into it.

„I'm just not in the mood, chuvak, t-that's all. Ok? Ok. Just not in the mood for fucking… ugh, fucking women, you know?“ he put his hands over his face and sighted tiredly. „I just don't care for them...“ he closed his eyes, too tired to deal with that whole situation.

Second he said it, Artyom faltered, looking up with confusion.

Did he meant… He doesn't care for them like…?

„Right now,“ Pavel blurted out quickly right after that, before Artyom could ask anything. „I'm just not in the mood right now, as I said. I will… ugh, I will apologize to her. Blin. I would just rather slept with these fucking nightmares than stayed another minute awake right now, ok, chuvak? O-Opa, this fucking day!“ he chuckled while shaking his head in disbelief. „I have enough, you know?“

Artyom looked at him, speechless for moment, but then nodded and stretched out his hand to help him get up. With grunt, Pavel stood up and sighted.

„You're right. We should rest, so we catch the train tomorrow.“

„Tochno, Artyomich. I can't wait to get out of this shit hole. Hanza, tch. Hanza can kiss my ass,“ he slapped him across the shoulder. Artyom felt… rather mazy about the whole situation but decided to just let it go. They were both extremely tired, not just him. Sleep was probably best and most wise option right now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gooood, people, I am so sorry! Life is a bitch, really. I was so stressed out last few weeks, there was no way I was thinking about this fanfiction, then I had even more work, other problems... Just great. I am SO incredible grateful for your feedback and comments and kudos, really! I am really trying as hard as I can to continue this, I definitely want to finish this piece. :3 So enjoy.

Artyom woke up just few minutes after Katya and Tasha. He heard them quietly talk about something, then they kissed and Tasha went to work, meanwhile Katya stayed in the room for a while, before getting dressed and probably going to check on Evgeni.

He sighted and looked into the ceiling. It was _insane_ what turn things took when he really thought about it. He was only supposed to help those people in Katai Gorod. That was his whole mission. Now… he was lying here, in Katya's home, next to Pavel with his back to him, still sleeping. Artyom began to understand that his life probably won't get simple any time soon.

Pavel woke him up few times through the night with his quiet moans and twitching. It seemed he really is having these nightmares very frequently. Artyom looked at him with pity. At least he got _some_ sleep. Artyom was sure he himself had some very vivid dreams too, maybe Dark One even tried to talk to him, but he was too exhausted to pay attention to it or remember it. So he quietly got out of the bed and reached for his backpack that was laying close to the mattress. He took out his journal and just looked at the pages for a moment before actually taking a pen and starting.

 

_Is it stupid that I thought everything will end after battle for D6? Maybe I was just being naive again. Yes, sweeping whole Metro for last remaining Dark One, fighting Nazis and almost sacrificing everything in this huge battle with Reds were probably the most insane events of my life, at least I hope so, but thinking that I will go rest of it just following orders and doing basic missions was probably stupid of me._

_Now, it really seems that I sealed my fate the moment I left Exhibition. It will never be like before. It will never be easy again. Now I understand more than ever that everything I do has consequences and it affects more than I can understand. What would have happened if I haven't talked to the seller? I wouldn't find Pavel, I wouldn't meet Katya. Every little step we make is connected to so much more than just us. I feel like this is one of the things the Little One tried to teach me. Now… I just need to decide what I want to do. It shouldn't be so hard – we just need to get to Komsomolskaya and our paths will disjoin again. ...But is it really what I want?_

 

Artyom stopped with a pen still pinned to the dot of question mark and looked at Pavel. Why did he hated the thought of this ending so much? It was so idiotic. Just few days back, he was his enemy but now he forgot everything he did just because he told him few things about himself? Artyom was trying to remember that anger he felt towards Pavel, but the more he tried, the more he realized it was just sadness, just him not being able to cope with losing a friend that he made before he knew who Pavel really was. He knew it would be absolutely logical to be angry because Pavel did horrible things, but feelings aren't logical and Artyom was never one of those who can just ignore feelings, or act like they don't have them at all.

 

 _Maybe I really need to be honest with myself for once. -_ he continued with writing. _Maybe I saw something in him from the beginning. I mean it's human. Just biology... Maybe he... reminded me of Eugine. Yes, a little. That could be it. I tried to suppress any thoughts about him since his death. I thought that would be best for me. Maybe it wasn't. But whatever all this is, it doesn't change who Pavel is and who I am. Our paths are different alrought I can_ _name_ _so many similiarities between us. Perhaps I am just imagining things. Only seeing what I want to see. What am I thinking anyways? Pavel is Red Line Major. I am a Spartan Ranger. There is no chance this is going to work even as a friendship. I'll do what I promised. And then, my life will continue as it was till now._

 

„Ugh… Oy… Artyomich,“ he heard from behind him right when he closed his journal. „What time is it, huh?“ Pavel sounded still half asleep, which made Artyom smile - just how confused Pavel sounded. It was quite adorable.

„Around eight. We still have few hours before the train goes.“

„U-uhm. That's just great,“ Pavel grunted quietly, burying his head in the pillow again. Artyom stayed quiet and just gave his journal back into the backpack. „Blyadj… My fucking leg hurts like hell…“ he continued after a while when Artyom already thought he is asleep again.

„You used all of the painkillers? We can buy more later,“ Artyom said calmly.

„No need, d'Artagnan,“ Pavel responded and then turned with sigh. It seemed he is not going to sleep anymore alrough he still sounded slightly tired. „You did enough, chuvak. I can manage. It's just from all that walking...“

„You had nightmares again,“ Artyom noted quietly without looking at Pavel.

„Oh… D-Did I woke you up, chuvak? Prosti. I didn't know. Sometimes… Sometimes I wake up myself by the screams,“ he chuckled but Artyom looked at him with pity. „I am getting used to it though.“ Still looking for the positive. „I even feel like it's getting better sometimes. You know, at times, it looks like you… like you will get back and help me, you know? But… you always change your mind, huh… It's just stupid dreams, anyways, Artyomich. Nothing more,“ it was clear that Pavel is trying to calm himself down by saying that out loud. It probably wasn't so relevant to him as he tried for it to sound but he didn't wanted Artyom's pity, he was too proud for that.

„It's hard to believe that sometimes... I understand,“ he said at the end and got up to stretch. Pavel continued looking at him, rather wistful, but then he slightly nodded and yawned. „Katya probably went to the hospital. I hope Evgeni is alright. She also left us some food,“ he smiled for himself when he came to the table and saw the note with invitation to take whaver they want for breakfast. „She's too kind.“

„Well… we saved their lives afterall,“ Pavel noted laughingly from the mattresses.

„Yes, but still… She did more than she had to.“ A lot more, in fact, he thought when he remembered what happened last light. He wasn't only one – that memory appeared in Pavel's mind too but didn't made him too happy. He looked down and nervously rubbed his hands together, wishing Artyom won't bring that up again.

 

„It smells great,“ Artyom almost cheered when he opened pot with thick potato soup. It was definitely from can, but still… With some pork in it, it looked delicious. „Not as good as we, though,“ he laughted lightly and turned to Pavel. „We should have shower before boarding the train. I'm shocked they even wanted to touch us yesterday,“ he chuckled.

Pavel just looked at him, clearly amused.

„Ha! Tak-tak-tak, Artyomich, worrying about your image, huh? Gotta look good for the ladies, chto? Well, when we get to the Red Line, you will see we have one of the most beautiful women in the whole Metro,“ Pavel was definitely awake, and becoming his usual self, Artyom though and responded with smile. The memory of their conversation last night was still fresh in his head but he asured himself that it's important to not make it even more complicated. „Nu davai, let's eat, let's eat, Artyom!“ Pavel quickly jumped off with quiet groan and walked to the table.

It seemed that he will eat for three few more months before he will refill what he missed these past several months living on street.

Or maybe he always liked food this much, Artyom realized. He wouldn't really know because he never knew him like that…

 

After they finished eating, they left their things together with note for Katya and went to public washroom. In that time of the day, they were alone there. Usually it would take just few bullets to have nice hot shower and that was exactly what both of them needed.

They finally got their clothes off after so many days. Artyom even managed to get some new ones for Pavel, because what he had was just horrible. He wanted him to get back to the Red Line looking at least a little representable, and for him to feel like himself. Artyom remembered how Pavel held himself, oh so proud, when he was taking him to the Korbut after capturing him in Venice. In his Major uniform and everything, he looked threatening, but also so naturally. He looked quite attractive, too… he had to admit.

That was, of course, not exactly what was Artyom thinking back at that moment, but it was somewhere in the back of his mind even then.

„See, huh?“ Pavel interruped his trail of thoughts when he encouraged him to look at his thigh when he was only in shirt and underwear, halfway getting undressed.

Artyom looked at the visible scar there.

„Why do I feel like you _really_ blame me on this still?“ he smiled crookedly but also quite insecurily because he did felt bad, with Pavel constantly bringing it up he either really suffered the consequences or was still feeling grievance for what he did to him. Either way, it was reminding him that damn conflict and he would rather completely forget that.

„I don't, Artyomka,“ he blurted out and he seemed honestly suprised by Artyom's slightly quilty tone. „I know that I, um… that I deserve this, right? I was just… Nevermind, priyatel. Let's get clean, huh?“ he shook his head and continued with undressing.

 

Artoym always felt strangely vulnerable naked. It was like this… instinct he learned growing up in the Metro. It was understandable. Being naked is incredibly bad position for a human to be in in the world where dangerous mutants could wait around every corner.

Especially last few years, Artyom got used to his heavy Ranger uniform and helmet as if it was his own skin. But now, he didn't showered for so long and was smelling so damn bad, all he wanted to do was soak in nice warm water.

Lost in his own body's sensations, he just stood under the shower, head leaning onto the wall in front of him, water running down and with closed eyes, he fully enjoyed the moment.

Pavel was next to him, just getting ready to get under the shower too.

„This feels so good...“ Artyom breathed out, usually not very vocal, especially regarding his own feelings, but he felt kind of strange just standing there silent, even more so when he couldn't see Pavel. There definitely still was this tiny little part of him that was alert, imagining Pavel standing behind him with knife in his hand, but Artyom knew that is not case and tried to relax.

„It's uh… it's great, yeah,“ Pavel chuckled kind of awkwardly and fleetingly looked at Artyom just to nod at him. And then while slowly turning the water on, he looked again.

There was voice in his head screaming at him to stop, because Artyom could open his eyes every second and because it was just too damn stupid - what was other part of him making him do.

But that other part of him was stronger, oppressed and suppressed for so long he just had to give it what it wanted.

His eyes slowly slided down – at first just studying Artyom's body because other times he saw him, it was just with all that gear on and in the uniform. His skin was a little darker than of most people around. He was skinny, but also muscular – healthy, young, strong man in his prime, that's how he looked, yes. Few smaller scars could be seen here and there…

Then, as this disturbingly primal urge grew in Pavel's abdomen, he looked even more down, until he reached Artyom's pride.

 

Pavel felt sudden blast of all kinds of feelings hit his body, his throat got dry, stomach constricted, muscles tensed and his heartbeat accelerated.

You don't look at other man like that, you don't.

It was probably just that… Just the fact you usually never really see much more that... his own, right? He couldn't look away in that moment. Artyom's was… a lot bigger than his. That was probably first that hit him. It was definitely a lot thinner but oh boy it had good few inches more…

The moment Pavel felt just the slightest movement from Artyom, he quickly turned the tap so quickly to the right that water began to squirt everywhere.

Artyom looked at him with suprise, and unlike him, closely guarding where his look goes because he learned to control that very early on, when he realized that not every man feels the need to watch other man's bodies as he would watch those of a women. He noticed Pavel's shoulders shivering slightly.

Artyom did looked because he felt like someone was staring at him but… this wasn't the case, it couldn't be. It was stupid just to think that.

Rest of the shower was silent. There wasn't much reasons to talk anyways.

When both men got dressed again, the felt relaxed and somehow cleaned of all of those horrible things that happened, at least partially. After that, they got back to Katya. Time flew by quickly, so they didn't have much time before the train. They needed to take their things and go.

Artyom opened the door and was met with pleasant suprise.

 

„You're back!“ Katya immediatelly straightened her back from leaning down to Evgeni playing on the ground next to the mattresses.

„We are,“ Artyom smiled quietly. „You are too, I see,“ he looked at the boy and could help it but felt this pride and joy in his heart. He looked okay. He was home and safe, that was important.

„Yes,“ Katya seemed overflowed with joy too, her face vibrant and almost shining. „They said there is nothing more they can do and that… if something does comes up, we should head back, but overall it looks like… it really is over. And he is alright,“ she caressed Evgeni and he smiled back at her. He watched two men a little carefully, but it was apparent Katya told him about them, so he wasn't scared, just a little shy and still traumatized.

„We're glad… We're glad we could help. We should head out soon, so...“ He finally walked inside the room closer to them. Was it stupid that he felt sad for leaving? Of course, he couldn't just stay but for some reason he felt comfortable there, he felt like he was home which was very unusual. Artyom was used to traveling around the stations and their culture and differences fascinated him but he never felt really safe anywhere apart from D6.

„I know. I know. I… Just tell me what you need, what can I give you.“

„You don't have to do anything else.“

„No, I do. Whatever you need, huh?“ She insisted and turned her gaze to Pavel, asking him the same quiestion. He just looked at Artyom and shrugged his shoulders.

„Well, maybe...“

„It's alright, Artyom,“ Pavel interrupted him firmly and calmly because he knew what he wants to say but Artyom just looked at him with confusion and stubbornly continued.

„Maybe if you have some painkillers?“

 

„Da, da, sure, we definitely… have some around here,“ she quickly jumped up and went looking. Pavel quietly sighted but stayed silent. He looked at the boy playing with the wooden car on the ground. It felt strange to think about the fact that… he saved him, basically. Pavel always believed he is good person – he was. He was doing everything he could for the cause, for his station and for the communist way of life. In that care, there was nothing burdening his conscience but when he really thought about it, Artyom was goddamn hero, he saved so many people just in that short time he knew him but he… He actually saved only the boy, no one else.

He looked down with strangely distressed face and before he could realize, Artyom noticed. He was already sitting at the table and again, focused on the most important thing in the room – what Pavel is doing.

„Are you ready for the train?“ Artyom asked him quietly and it that moment, no matter how stupid it was, Pavel felt like he would have just stayed there with him if he said he isn't.

„For sure, Artyomich,“ he answered quickly and certainly.

„I will give you a little bit of food too, just something to snack on, you know...“ Katya was running around the kitchen and in reality, she was also trying to hide her saddness because nobody ever helped her like that. She didn't wanted them to leave but she also knew that's the life, that's how it works. They will go to their far stations and she will never see them again. „Oh, pravo - Tasha will meet us at the platform, she is allowed to run away from work for just a minute. We will take Evgeni too, so we can all say goodbye together.“

Artyom just smiled and lightly shook hid head, knowing that arguing with her will get him nowhere anyways. Then he looked at Pavel and realized their journey is really going to end very soon. He decited to not think about it, not allowing negative thoughts into his head. There was plenty of time of thinking when he's back at D6.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life is happening, hard, but it got some time to write, so that's good! I am ready starting to hope I will finish this! :D Will need feeew more chapters but I believe in myself! As always, thank you very much for kind comments and kudos! It helps a lot!

Both Artyom and Pavel successfully boarded the train after touching goodbyes with Katya, Tasha and Eugeni and there wasn't even any problems with guards letting them in. They seemed to not care much which was great. It seemed for once that things will be just... easy. Hopefuly.

Artyom fell asleep quick. It was probably something over an hour and half to Komsolomskaya by train but he haven't been in one for so long and was still quite tired, so he just let regular clacking of the wheels lull him to sleep.

It was long since he saw him. The Little one…

When Artyom opened his eyes, he was in one of the many unfamiliar, monotonous hallways, same as in every other dream. There were no sounds around him again, just strange void-ish atmosphere. Then, Little Dark One appeared in front of him, as he already expected.

„Artyom,“ he greeted him with that childish, calm voice and Ranger just nodded with slight smile. „I tried to help. I tried to get in contact with you before but you were… The connection was too weak. I am sorry.“

„We made it. It's alright,“ Artyom sighted and smiled. He didn't even felt like the Little One owes him anything. He was supposed to take care of his problems by himself. „Everything is alright now,“ he added quietly and Dark One leaned his head to side with confusion.

„Sadness? Why do you feel sadness, Artyom?“

His quiestion suprised him in a way but of course, there was not much he could hide from that child. Artyom kept quiet for a moment and tried to find the answer, but…

„I don't know...“

„Did something happened?“

„No,“ he slightly shook his head. „It's not that.“ Why did he felt so strange all of the sudden? Was it because the Little One could see his real feelings? There were almost at their target destination anyways, there was not much he could do. „Can I ask something?“ Artyom looked up finally and Dark One nodded.

 

„When you were reading Pavel's mind, have you… have you noticed something different about him?“ he asked and immediatelly regretted his stupid question, worried that the Dark One will see where he is coming from and also think it's stupid. It was. It was useless and idiotic he even thought about that. Artyom was almost sure he is just making stuff up and there is nothing valid in his suspicion.

„Different?“ he seemed honestly confused for a moment.

„Just…“ He probably didn't even understood what he was trying to ask. He was just a child, barely understanding humans. He was the Dark One, but still… it was probably stupid to ask him something like that.

„I wasn't in his mind for long. He… There was a lot of things hidden. Deep inside,“ Little One suprised Artyom when he seemed to geniuinely try to remember as good as he could. Something like that should have been answer he wanted to hear but it made him even more skeptical.

„Every human is like that. There are things that everyone hides… There isn't man without a secret,“ he noted quietly and looked disappointedly to the ground again. Young Dark One noticed his body language and alrough he wasn't as good in understanding humans as he wanted, he could tell at least something was wrong, so he tried to dig as deep as he possibly could.

„Are you asking about… the things you feel, that everyone feels? Love?" he figured it out after trying to read Artyom's mind and emotions more closely. "Do you mean love, Artyom? Or… how do you humans call it… Attraction?“ The moment he said that world, still not quite sure if he fully understands what that means, Artyom's heart started raising and his stomach contracted.

 

Yes. Yes, attraction, that was what he was thinking about.

„Like you feel it towards men _and_ women, is it? But most people don't, I noticed,“ Little One said with fascination, clearly still very much enjoying the learning process. He was crawling around Artyom, making rounds, as it helped him think.

„Yes. Most people don't...“ Artyom said with a nod. He wasn't ashemed, it wasn't like that for longer time now. He accepted that, but it was still quite strange to talk about it out loud. He rarely would. He actually almost never did, only with Eugine and that was long time ago. There wasn't other people he really talk about it with… Not even his father.

„I see.“ Dark One was already letting go of Artyom's hand when he suprisingly looked at him because he completely stopped paying attention to where he is. His 'I see' clearly said that whatever he needed to understand before touching Artyom, he already did. „I would have to touch him to be sure. I wasn't paying attention before but… maybe there was something. Besides sadness. There was anger somewhere under everything,“ he slowly crawled around Artyom again, thinking, and Ranger just traced him with his eyes. „And there was doubt.“

„Doubt about what?“ Artyom tensed.

„Everything,“ he looked at him again. „There was doubt about everything. About his life and himself...“

Artyom just sadly lowered his gaze and stared into the ground. He knew he is just trying to see the answers he needs to hear. Everyone had doubts. Maybe Pavel had them about his way of live, even through his huge dedication to the communism, of course he had doubts, it was… human. It would be strange if he didn't had them at all.

 

„He told you a lot of lies, Artyom.“

„I know.“

„But he wanted to be… himself, around you. He was… Like if he played a role. Like an actor you people had in your plays. I saw a poster. Others told me about it. What they saw. It is a strange thing you people do... Acting lives as if they were real but they... are not,“ he sounded as if he smiled. He really was a child. It was strange to see, someone being so genuinely fascinated by such normal things.

„I see...“ Artyom said pensively. So if he was acting, it meant that maybe… Just maybe his gut is telling him the right thing. Most like it is not, but still...

„I would need to touch him again to see more, to understand. And I-“ Dark One suddenly interrupted what he was saying by rapid turn, as if he heard something behind his back. Artyom uneasily stepped back and he already opened his mouth to ask what's going on but little one spoke first. „Others. They don't like me talking to you.“  
„Are you in trouble?“ Artyom asked tensely.

„It is alright, Artyom. I am in no danger. I will talk to you when I can. Goodbye for now,“ he finished quickly but didn't seemed much scared – he was still a child, not so different from human one. Artyom imagined he will probably get scolded but others must know he will do what he wants at the end of the day anyways. At least he hoped so. Before he could say his goodbyes, dream ended, like turning off the television, and he could feel his mind becoming aware of his body and reality again.

 

He quickly opened his eyes. Sound of clapping wheels and wagon chattering became loud and clear again and not long after that, he realized where he is and what is going on. When Artyom finally opened his eyes fully, he noticed Pavel looking at him from the seat across him.

It was just quick glance – then he turned his eyes to the ground again and it wasn't hard to notice the man seems… quite downcasted.

Trying to shake off the feelings and thoughts his conversations with Little One created in him, Artyom stretched his back and with quiet cough turned fully to Pavel.

„What is it?“ he asked, genuinely concerned.

„Chto? Oh, n-nothing, chuvak,“ Pavel gave him quiet, yet sharp answer but it was pretty obvious that he just doesn't want to talk. Before Artyom fell asleep, it seemed like everything is alright. After looking at his watch, he noticed they will be at the station in about fifteen minutes. There wasn't much time, he realized. There wasn't much time left to… talk. Before they will separate. That thought scared him. That wasn't feeling he had often. He got used to dangerous situations and scary thing, yet…

„Pavel,“ he said his name in a way that clearly meant he wants him to tell the truth.

He sighted and turned his head to the train window.

„I just feel fucking… confused and… scared, you understand, Artyomich?“ he tried to keep it as light as possible but he felt his heart sinking and stomach turning upside down. He wasn't sure if he ever said to living soul that he is scared. Saying something like that to other person in his position and this world they lived in... it was something... almost intimate. „I already told you you were right, didn't I? I did something wrong, you're right. I'm not as good person as you, Artyom,“ he said after short pause. „Maybe this really meant something but then... I will get back home and… blyadj, it will be… will be the same. Or it won't. Don't know... what's worse,“ he chuckled.

Artyom closely watched him with his eyes – his every move and smallest changes in facial expression, but didn't said anything.

 

„It's like I don't even remember how it feels to be there, you know, huh? It's so… so fucking strange. What I did… I did because of who I am. That's who I am, da? I don't know anything else, Artyom,“ he finally mastered the courage to look Artyom into the eye. He kind of hoped he will understand what he's trying to say, alrough he didn't fully understood himself but he also knew he probably won't. And that made him even more desperate.

Artyom stared at him and tried to think of something he could say to help him.

He understood. Pavel was a communist, that's what he was. That was what became core of his being when he was adopted by his new father. It was way of life that gave him real life – not just survival. It was something that was giving him certitude. But… communism was toxic in many ways, _especially_ after humanity went to shit.

At that point, it was simply almost impossible to be true communist and good person.

„I've heard a lot has been changing at Red Line since the battle of D6. Maybe… things will turn out to be better.“

Pavel was quiet.

„I understand that idea of change may seem unpleasant to you but do you really think you can just get back to being like before? It's not… what this was supposed to teach you.“

„What was it supposed to teach me then, huh? You understand those... fucking smart-ass apes, so tell me, Artyomich. What is it?“ Pavel got slightly defensive and frustrated because nothing was helping to ease his inner fight, nothing what Artyom said, and he really wanted it to help. „You should have killed me, would be less damn problems,“ he said with tragic tone and chuckled before Artyom could reply.

 

„It was supposed to make you better person. It did,“ Artyom suddenly leaned towards Pavel and put his hand on his knee. The sudden closeness and complete change in Artyom's tone caught Pavel by suprise, so he just stared at him speachless. „That's why you're quiestioning yourself. Whatever happens, you are better person. You just have to stand for what's right and for the truth. Alright?“ Artyom shallowed hardly and only in that moment realized what improper move he made, but kept his hand on Pavel because… it was what he really wanted to do.

It seemed that air in space between them got hotter and heavier. They just looked at each other, so seamlessly and intensively at the same time.

'The truth', Pavel thought. Everything he thought was truth was falling apart.

When one of them finally let out shaky breath, Artyom jerked away with his hand and quickly straightened and leaned back fully on his seat. Both of them felt their cheeks warming up, most likely from how awkward everything got. But none of them had to worry about it anymore because one of the Hanza people just knocked on the door of the wagon – they were almost in Komsolomskaya. When they realized it, they looked at each other again.

„I hope… I hope I will be able to take you through the Red Line. Depends on, you know, how much has changed. Everything is gonna be fucking mess,“ Pavel started to think about the state of the stations, trying to occupy his mind rather with that than pessimist thoughts. Sure, things weren't perfect when Korbut and Moskvin were in power, but he was sure it is even worse now. He heard bits and pieces about red station when he was living on the streets. It was mostly same propaganda about how horrible it is there as always, just that talk he hated.

„We don't know much. Whatever is happening, they try to keep it silent. But it's most likely that... even people from the red stations have no any idea what really is happening...“ Artyom sighted. „Are they gonna take you back?“ he realized Pavel could have more troubles than he previously thought.

„Hope so,“ he chuckled and then started to take something out of his jacket. „Still have this,“ he showed Artyom his dog tags. „This will hopefully get me home. And you through the Red Line. I promised I will let you get home that way and I will keep my word, as a… good communist,“ he faltered at the end of the sentense. Those were the words he would usually said with absolute certitude, but now it just seemed… strange. „I imagine there's not gonna be much people like me, high rank, with most of them bitting the dust at the D6, so… Just hope we have luck and then… you can go to your pretty little bunker, chuvak.“

 

There seemed to be this feeling of closure and absolution hanging in the air. Artyom started to wake up from his naive dreams and remembered that he is a Ranger, that he has responsibilities and people that count on him. There was no place for any stupid, naive dreams of his in this world. This grittiness was all that remained. Bitter taste of duty.

The more he thought about it, the more he saw that they will go their own ways and never see each other again. Reds will garther their strenght again and they will inevitably start making things difficult again. With them, Nazis, Hanza and everyone else, it was just impossible to have some kind of peace and understanding between people in the Metro.

When he was with Pavel, wardering stations and saving people, he just felt that for a moment, there can be just that, just freedom, just life…

Of course not.

Loud 'We're here!' came from another wagon and not longer after that whole train stopped. Both men stayed sitting in silence long after that, until Hanza soldier came knocking inside to check on them.

 

„We're at the final destination, boys. Everything alright?“ soldier looked them up and down.

„Of course,“ Artyom nodded with light sigh and stood up, trying tu build up his confidence and serious face again. Only thing that could go wrong now would be if anyone figured out who Pavel is. That won't happen. He knew he just needs to get him to the Krasnye Vorota and then he can continue to whatever station is his home one. Artyom knew he himself will get back, through the Red Line or not, him getting to the D6 wasn't the problem. „Let's go,“ he turned to Pavel who was still sitting. He looked up at Artyom for a moment and then got up. „I told him we need to get someone at Red Gates, a spy,“ Artyom began to whisper when Pavel was walking behind him so others can't hear them. „They seemed to believe me. They will let us go through the main tunnel to the Red Gates, then it's gonna be on you if we get inside or not.“

„Tak tak tak, let's hope we will, Artyomich.“ The was clear change in Pavel's voice – he sounded a lot more serious and collected now. Maybe he finally realized this is going to an end too, maybe he was trying to get back into his former self, like when he was ordering his man after capturing Artyom – firm and evoking respect. Major Morozov…

„Thank you for your assistance,“ said Artyom while walking towards commander of the soldiers, old but muscular man. „Order will remember this. I hope we will help each other again,“ he stretched out his hand and soldier took it.

„My pleasure. From time to time, we need to help each other. Especially if you have someone who can help us end these fucking Reds,“ he said it quietly so others won't hear, but chuckled with satisfaction afterwards and gave Artyom pat on the back. Pavel just lowered his eyes but manager to not let any reaction out. When commander nodded at him as a goodbye, he nodded back and calmly walked behind Artyom.

 

It wasn't too long of a walk before they reached gate that led out of the Komsomolskaya and into the tunnel to Red Gates. On their way there, they saw dozens of refugees. Women, children and men alike, sitting on the ground, with few things they had, crying, begging, but some of them seemed happy too. It seemed like this refugee crysis won't ever end… Artyom had already witnessed so much of it, it seemed to be daily thing in Hanza stations but nobody really changed their stance on the matter in past several months. No solutions, no help. Just slow and annoying waiting for new possible home after those poor people escaped something they believed was worse than death…

Pavel was looking away from them. They were told at the Red Line that refugees are just cowards, traitors. But it felt strangely hard to look at them in the real light, when he saw them, when they were just few inches from him. It was just another thing he would have to think about and he didn't had energy to be questioning more things than he already was…

„You're the ones going through the tunnel?“ one of the guards shouted at Artyom and Pavel when they were approaching it.

„Do you need to see the permit?“

„Hell no. If you want to go to the Reds, well… Help yourself,“ he shook his head in disbelief and nodded at his men. „Come on, guys, open the door, chop-chop!“

Pavel was silent for the whole time and that… seemed strange to Artyom, but it was still not a right place to talk.

„Good luck then,“ said one of the younger guards when they were approaching opening gate.

„To you too, soldier,“ Artyom said when he walked through the gate with Pavel, he immediatelly heard it closing behind them. He didn't looked back, there was no lucking back now. Tunnel was silent and calm. Hanza probably killed most of the mutants in the area and only people they were gonna encounter were Reds at the other side – and hopefully, they will be at least little less aggresive than usual. That could save their lives and make the mission succesful.

 

„Had no idea people hate us so much, tch. Chort,“ Pavel awkwardly chuckled after few minutes of silent walk. „I guess I always lived in the… in this… this bubble where I didn't had to care. I was sure we are the good guys, you know? But… You know, most of what people say is bullshit. It's not as fucking bad as they say, Artyom,“ he tried to immediatelly justify his home, his ideology.

Artyom didn't answered right away. Pavel was opening eyes to the truth, but he could still see things firmly rooted in him and he wasn't sure if he's willing to listen to him.

„There's probably… a lot things you never really noticed. Or you were taught to not notice,“ he turned to Pavel slightly but before he looked, Artyom was walking with the eyes on the road ahead them again.

„So that's what you want to do, huh, d'Artagnan? Just… lead me home, tell me how fucking evil everything here is and um… that's it? Finish, konechnym, huh? Is it like that? Well… you were always a… fucking hero, weren't you,“ Pavel bitterly chuckled and shook his head. Artyom wasn't able to tell if he's really angry at him – he sounded like it. They already had just about fourty five minutes of walk to the station and Artyom wished for it to be peaceful. He wanted to end it on a… good note, if possible.

While Artyom tried to come up with something to tell Pavel, something that will make him live a better life when he's back, he realized he isn't paying attention to his surrounding – which can be fatal mistake for a Ranger – and moment after that, he noticed distant voices coming from the tunnel in front of them.

 

„Am I talking to myself, chuvak? Aye?“

„Shhhh,“ he raised his hand and changed his posture to careful walk with hand ready on his gun and ears ready to catch slightest sound.

„Nu nu nu, don't you dare to sush me, Artyom! Do you understand?“ Pavel warned him with quite offended tone of voice but Artyom wasn't paying attention to that, he was paying attention to the sounds. It was probably nothing – only people who could be there are Reds or Hanza and none of them were danger, only potential. But there isn't anything like being too careful in the metro.

„Keep quiet and listen!“ he raised his voice slightly and quickly turned to Pavel with scholding look. He wanted to reply something, but then he concentrated, he heard the voices too.

„Huh, Ty smotri… Hope it's not someone who shoots on sight.“

„More likely refugees,“ Artyom said quietly and slowly continued moving through the tunnel with gun ready and towards the voices.

The closer they got, the more they realized the sounds are of someone scared, muffled crying and shout here and there.

„They need help,“ said young Ranger and before Pavel could saying anything, he ran towards the sound.

„Blya-! For fuck's sake, Ar-… They're just fucking runaways!“

„Come on!“

Again - there was really not much Pavel could do against Artyom's stubborn need to help others, and he slowly started to get used to it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Pavel's reacting to Artyom shushing him is the most realistic thing in this fanfiction, lol.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaas, I actually managed to finish another chapter! Yay. I hope you will enjoy it. Things are starting to happen a little and I dare to quess that we are behind the first half of the story, definitely. I intended this to be shorter, but it looks like I really can't write anything short, haha!

The sounds were coming from one of these side rooms that were all over the tunnels – in was pretty much only place where to hide or get rest if one didn't wanted to be too vulnerable but it seemed like whoever was inside, it didn't helped them much.

Artyom could hear younger child crying, men's voice and someone else but it was hard to make it all out. These were definitely refugees, and they needed to get help with whatever was making those animalistic sounds.

When Artyom entered small room with oil lamp, he immediatelly saw two big lurkers growling and getting ready to fight older man that was in front of them, waving a knife to self defence. Behind him was probably his wife and two children – young girl, maybe eight, and another one around thirteen.

Knife indeed was not the best weapon against a lurker but they were in luck because Artyom was there to help. Before anyone really noticed him, he put both lurkers to death with two accurate, steady shots. They were dead before they even noticed him but they were not the only ones suprised.

„W-Who are you?!“ man almost screamed, visibly too tired and too exhausted by everything that was just happening – and armed with just a knife… it was very understandable.

„We're here to help, don‘t worry,“ Artyom lifted his hands up to his head to show he's not a danger to them.

„He's… Spartan Ranger,“ older girl said with hopeful tone but her voice was still shaking.

„Please, don't hurt us. We just… We are just trying get to-to the station,“ woman started desperately pleading. Pavel was already standing behind Artyom's shoulder – with his dog tags hidden, he looked just like normal citizen of one of the station, they didn't have any idea he's the one they were trying to run from in a way. He realized that and it created this bad taste in his mouth, maybe even compunction even though he knew he is not the one who did something to them. „W-We… We just want to get there, please. I beg you,“ she started sobbing, holding her younger daughter tighter and tighter.

 

„You don‘t need to worry. We will not… denounce you. Are you alright?“ Artyom tried to sound friendly and light so they can calm down a bit. He couldn‘t even imagine what they went through. He was through worse things, but all his life, he lived in Exhibition and he was mostly happy there. He couldn‘t possibly imagine what these people went through – something that made them flee amongst these dangerous conditions.

„We… Y-Yes, I think so. We had to stop for a moment,“ man started to seem less tense, looking back at his family with desperate face. „We thought there are no mutants in this tunnel, but...“

„We couldn‘t shoot them. All the bullets we have… Without them, we can‘t get into Komsolomskaya.“

Artyoms face got even more anxious. They couldn‘t even protect themselves or they would have died in other way, before entering the station…

„We heard… We heard there are some envoys from Polis in Komsolomskaya. That they came because of the election, to help.“

„Election?“ Pavel stiffened and lowered his brows with confusion.

„They are finally choosing new General Secretary,“ Artyom said calmly and man nodded. „The envoy… I need to talk to them. If they are there, it must be important. It has to be something big….“ He started thinking, adrenalin pumping into his blood. When there was possibility of helping with something, he just had to take that chance. „But if you know about it, others in the station must know about it too,“ he frowned. Damn.

 

„I think they do,“ woman said quietly, looking at her husband.

„L-Leonid Moskvin – he is the son of the former General Secretary of the Central Committee...“

Of course. How could he forget about him – the young man was the one who saved him when he was captured by Pavel. Without him, things would be very, very different. Without him he wouldn‘t be standing here. „There are other candidates. But… A lot of people wants him to be the General Secretary, even though he doesn‘t have any millitary exprence, I think he is… breath of fresh air that people want. Change. He would be… a change. Good change. Better than one of the others anyways… They would be same as the Moskvin. We would keep starving and dying and… Ugh. We just… couldn‘t stay there anymore,“ the man looked at Artyom with incredibly vulnerable eyes.

Pavel was standing behind them, playing those words in his head. He was trying to understand them but it couldn‘t be possible. These people were telling the truth. He saw how desperate they looked but that just didn‘t fit with the memories of life he led there…

„I am sorry you had to go through this...“ Artyom lowered his eyebrows. „We will escort you to the station. I need to talk to whoever from Polis who is in charge there. This… You are right. This is important. This could be change that… all of us need,“ there was hope starting to rise in Artyom‘s voice.

„ _What_?“ Pavel quietly growled through his teeth.

Artyom turned to him, for a moment forgetting that he is there with him and this is only reaction he could expect.

„Gather your strenght, take all your things and slowly get ready. We will be on your way in few minutes, alright?“ he quickly turned to the family with soft smile and they agreed. After that, Artyom grabbed Pavel around his arm and gently tried to push him out of the room into the tunnel when he can argue with him hoewer he wants, without these people getting the message of who he really is. That would end too good.

 

„Do I… Gaaah, do I even have to say anything?“ Pavel immediatelly started with irritated tone. „Have you lost your fucking mind, huh, d‘Artagnan? We are going _back_? Just for them?“

„Isn‘t it all for one? Your motto?“ Artyom gave him swift and sharp answer with brutal determination in his eyes which totally suprised Pavel - it wasn‘t how the Ranger normally acted towards him.

„Y-…. Yeah but… What the fuck are you even doin‘? You‘re just playin‘ fucking hero again, that‘s what. Blyadj.“

„You know… You can just continue home...“

He didn‘t want to say it.

He didn‘t want it to end like this, but in that moment, he knew he have to be better person. He knew he has to let his personal feelings go in order to do real good things and this was one of them.

Pavel looked at him with more shock than he wanted to show, so much so that Artyom immediatelly noticed and started questioning if he really didn‘t said it too harshly.

„Go home to what, huh? You want to play some fucking…. Gh, some goddamn revolution. And _Leonid_? Oh, Molodets! You could pick some fucking whore and she would have done better job, even they know more about the politics than he does.“

Artyom didn‘t liked how much worked up over it Pavel‘s getting, he didn‘t wanted to make an enemy – again - and he didn‘t wanted those people to hear them. He still tried to understand but it seemed more and more that it would be a lot more hard for Pavel to get out of his old ways of thinking. Maybe he just saw it too naively, as always. Thinking that Pavel will just change and be better person because he told him to and because of few things they did together… No, it can‘t work like that, can it?

 

„This is going to happen,“ Artyom stayed determinated and tried to be calm. „This will happen, Pavel. What is happening can‘t just continue… You saw what it breeds. 'He who sows the wind, shall reap the storm'. You saw it. You did it. You were one of their weapons, you and others have all this blood on your hands...“

„Don‘t fucking start with this shit,“ Pavel growled and anger was again starting to take control of his mind. „This is fucking apocalypse, Artyom. Everyone has blood on their hands. Choosing some novichku as a leader won‘t save the world. Blyadj, you just can't save everyone. You have to choose the lesser evil.“

„This is useless,“ Artyom started to lose his patience. „There‘s no point in arguing. I thought you… can understand but I was wrong,“ he sighted, turning his gaze away. „I have to fight for what is right. Just like you needed to fight for your cause at Red Square. There is no talking me out of it, same as there was no talking you out of it then...“

There was dead silence for couple of moments. Artyom couldn‘t see Pavel but he felt his eyes and that tension coming from him.

„Do you know… how many times I had you in a clear shot there?“

He sounded… strangely hurt when saying that, but still angry. It wasn‘t easy for him to admit it – that he was basically compromising his own mission intentionally. That was stupid. That was bad for a good soldier he always was.

„You should have pulled the trigger then, Pavel,“ Artyom looked back up at him. „Why didn‘t you?“

„We… We were musketeers, that‘s why. Bleen...“ He felt stupid saying that, like he himself realized how insanely ridiculously he was holding onto that whole stupid thing, for no real reason.

Artyom was ready to give up on him but what he said brough back memories and that feeling he was trying to ignore.

„Then come with us. Just do the right thing,“ he started urging him with honest implore coming from his voice. He knew he is making a bad decision by giving up to his feeling that was so dangerous and irresponsible… Whatever he was feeling for Pavel, whatever it was, there was need for his presence, there was this strange fear of abandonment. It was like those months without him didn‘t even happen – they were together again just for a few days and he felt like it‘s normal, like it‘s right. It wasn‘t logical or wise decision, it wasn‘t something Ranger should to with regards to common good but it was something… he desired. „Just say yes,“ he took another step to Pavel who seemed so incredibly torn and doubtful it was actually making him uncomfortable.

 

„I… uh… It‘s just… It‘s a bad idea, Artyom, they won‘t… they won‘t let him get elected. Others won‘t…“ He began to actually think about it and considering it, even through it still seemed absolutely insane in his head. It wasn‘t going to happen, there was no way he would…

„Then we have to stop them. We need to help Leonid. You know the Red Line. You know the stations, you know the people, you know who… Who would want to get him out of the way, right?“ Artyom was pushing more and more, his voice vibrant from idealistic ideas of better tomorrow, from that stupid picture of them making the Metro better together.

„Th-That… I have some idea about who but… What do you want from me, huh? To betray my people?“

„You will save your people by this. Don‘t you see them?!“ he threw his hand to the direction of entrance to the room where the family was and his more and more engaged and passionate tone started to make Pavel seriously waver. „You can‘t tell me you don‘t just see it! I don‘t care what you believe in, it doesn‘t matter in what you were raised Pavel, but… You see these people, they are miserable, they are desperate, they are hurting!“ Artyom really did felt pity for them, the more he talked about them the more it got to him. „I won‘t keep reminding you what you did and I won‘t hold grudge for what you did but you have things to expiate for. You know that...“ he lowered his voice and made another step to Pavel, now just within the hand reach of him.

Why did he cared so much? Because they went through the same feelings, because he could understand his blame? But he had to wake up his blame in him, it was not the same, this was something… different.

Pavel was just staring into the ground, eyes wide and faltering.

 

He opened his mounth dumbly few times before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He couldn‘t understand why Artyom‘s words have so much weight for him, why are they so important but they were.

„K-Khorosho… Alright, okay...“ he let out shaky breath and felt like he made some kind of grand decision, his hands shaking and knees faltering.

He jerked when Artyom placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. He slowly looked up, for some reason almost terrified.

„Thank you,“ Artyom almost whispered and noticed that he was slightly trembling too. He felt urge to do the most stupid yet logical thing in that moment – to just kiss Pavel as a reward, like real thanks – but he knew that would be only counterproductive in that moment.

Most important thing was that he was on board. He was going to help him make things better.

„Sorry?“

They both sharply turned to the man standing next to them.

„Are we… Sorry I disrupted something, we were just-“

„Yes. Yes, we can go. We can go,“ Artyom immediatelly nodded, fleetingly looked at Pavel and then withdrawed his hand, turning fully to the family that was coming out of the side room. „We should probably hurry. If someone noticed you missing, we don‘t want them to possibly catch on us here,“ he put on that certain, competent mask of Spartan Ranger back on his face and straightened his back. It was time to get to work again.

„Yes,“ woman quickly agreed and they all set off. Back to the Komsolomskaya then.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gooods, I know! I got sudden rush of inspiration and wrote another chapter! See it as early Christmas present. :3  
> It's mostly talking but well, things are finally moving! We are also slowly, very very slowly moving towards some intimate action which is, of course, something I am incredible excited about. (being trash I am) I hope you like the chapter and you aren't annoyed by how long this story got! It was honestly supposed to be so much shorter, oh well.

When the group of six arrived at the gates of Komsolomskaya and they opened for them, look of disbelief on faces of soldiers who let Artyom and Pavel out, not that long before, was quite priceless.

„Changed your mind, huh?“ one of them, the one they talked to before, said it with sarcastic grin but at the same moment cautiously studied family that came with them. They were quite used to refugees. They were coming and going all the time, most of it, they couldn‘t give them any good news since the station was overfloating with people and the leader specifically forbade taking more people in because it could endanger the wellbeing of the station itself.

Too many people, too little food and beds.

„There is supposed to be envoy from Polis...?“ Artyom went straight to the point. Soldier frowned a little, not liking the fact that he is not explaining anything about people he took with him first.

„Yes. They arrived not long after you left. But that isn‘t important-“

„I need to talk to them.“

„No, you need to explain who are _they_. Come on! We can‘t just keep the gate open like this. Or should we just do that and let Reds take all of their missing people back home?“

Younger girl looked up at her mother in panic and the whole family got visibly uncomfortable.

„That won‘t be necessary,“ Artyom‘s tone got rougher and more cautionary. „I have the authority. They need to be taken in.“

„Of course. I agree. Everyone needs to be taken in, there‘s no arguing with that. _But_ … “ Man took a step to Artyom, „not everyone _can_ be taken in. Do you understand? These are just my orders, nothing personal.“

„Ask them. Ask the envoy, let me talk to them.“

Pavel was just standing quietly behind Artyom and watching his not very successful efforts, feeling more and more uncertain about his decision to go back with him.

 

In a moment of dead silence that was created, everyone was holding their breaths, waiting for the results, all of the men with their hands close to their gun in case that something goes wrong. After taking a breath, leader of the soldiers looked at the family and then back at Artyom.

„I just want to have calm, quiet shift, okay? Take them in, for fucks sake. And you go to the office, that‘s where they are. But don‘t you fucking come back here and interfiere with our business again, understand?“

He wasn‘t in mood for trouble – that was good. That was their only luck.

„Understood,“ Artyom firmly nodded and relaxed his body, previously prepared to fight. „Let‘s go,“ he quickly turned to the rest of the group and they quickly left from the necessary proximity of the gate. When they seemed to be safe from soldiers who could easily change their mind, they stopped at the market. There were dozens of people, talking over each other, buying, bargaining, begging.

„We are so sorry that… we were such burden for you,“ woman said and it seemed that she actually felt ashamed because of it. Artyom just laughted.

„There is no need to be sorry. We helped you. That‘s all. You don‘t owe us anything,“ he smiled at them. The man put his hand on Artyom‘s shoulder and visibly touched, he tried to find some words to describe what all that meant for him but he couldn‘t. „It‘s alright,“ Artyom decided to relieve his struggle with kind words and offer his hand. Man immediatelly accepted it and they shook hands.

They were already turning their back and leaving when older girl spoke.

„We won‘t forget,“ she said with strange sentiment in her voice for a kid. Artyom turned to her and smiled and when he looked at Pavel, he saw him staring at her, like he… never heard such geniune words of thanks before.

„We should go,“ Artyom reminded him quietly and woke him up from his transe. He nodded and quickly continued walking.

 

Artyom was confident that whoever was sent from Polis, they will let him help with the mission. After battle of D6, Miller became leader of the guards in Polis and man named Luka took his place. It wasn‘t end of him being leader of the Rangers, of course – Miller was still keeping eyes on them and helping when he could. And alrough Luka was official leader and everyone respected him very much, Artyom had his now undoubtedly deserved place on top of their hierarchy too. He may have been still just one of the Rangers and nothing more oficially, but his experiences and everything he did for the Metro gave his opinion tremendous weight and importance. He didn‘t wanted to be the leader anyways. Artyom was a loner in so many ways... He enjoyed working alone and wardening tunnels. He felt like he wouldn‘t be good at giving people orders…

„What when we get there? What do you want to do?“ Pavel finally spoke after several uncomfortable minutes of silence. They were already almost at the office.

„I‘ll find what they know and what‘s really happening. Then we will do everything in our power to help. It‘s that simple,“ he said gently.

„Tche,“ Pavel chuckled and shook his head. „Simple, huh… _Verno_.“

„Just stay calm and listen to what others have to say.“

„Aren‘t I always like that?“ Pavel grinned while giving apparence as if he‘s offended by what Artyom said. He had to smile. Pavel tried to make the situation lighter. He was still worried there will be some inconvenient reactions from his side but he just prayed it will all go well.

Before even getting close to the doors of the station leader‘s office, they saw two guards standing in front of them with guns ready in their hands. It seemed like whatever was happening inside, it was really important. Artyom continued confidently until they noticed him.

One of them was already opening his mouth to stop him, but the other one realized who he is after quick look and awkwardly poked his colegue with his shoulder.

 

„That‘s Artyom Chyornyj. _That_ Ranger. Don‘t you see?“ he whispered disapprovingly through his gritted teeth.

„ _Oh_. H-Hello, sir,“ the other one immediatelly greeted Artyom.

„We did not had any information you will be present, sir.“

„I know. It… wasn‘t planned. Can we join the meeting or will there be a problem?“ he decided to not bring up or even discuss fact that Pavel – who is obviously not a Ranger – will be going there with him and just say it firmly and calmly. Guards looked at each other quickly and then doubtfully back at them.

„I don‘t think there is reason why not, I am sure you… have the authority, sir, so…“

„Thank you, soldier,“ he said right after that and when they moved from the way, Artyom and Pavel were able to enter the office. He took just a moment before touching the door handle to collect his thoughts and muster all of his courage. He wasn‘t too good with these serious meetings and talking in front of many people, but it was the least he can do.

Right after opening the door, all of the voices in the room fell silent. Artyom immediatelly scanned everyone with his eyes – at far left, there was the leader of the station. He knew him, they met once before, when he was in Polis. Then there was another older man, judging by his scared face probably veteran. Next to him stood younger man, he looked the most suprised by far, and also quite nervous, uneasy. And then next, there were another two people – Spartan Ranger Artyom mildly recognized by his looks and then…

 

„Anna?“ he blurted out almost with shock, like he was the one who was supposed to be shocked there.

„Who is this?!“ youngest man raised his voice and didn‘t seemed to like the fact that two unannounced people just walked it. „Aren‘t you supposed to guard the door?“ he shouted at the guards.

„They ar-“

„That‘s enough. You can close the door, now,“ Anna interrupted him with her cold, firm tone - oh haven‘t she changed a bit. Guard immediatelly listened to her order and closed. When he did, everyone ended up standing in the silent room, apprehensively and confusedly looking at each other.

At first, Artyom was just suprised that she is at all there. Last time he saw her was probably few weeks after the battle. She came to him to the hospital, then they talked and after that… their ways kind of parted. Later he only talked to her two or three times on the radio – she always seemed to be somewhere else doing something else and honestly, he didn‘t even thought about her much. He was so burried in his work that he wasn‘t keeping track of pretty much anyone… It was kind of his way of coping with trauma of the fight - Artyom was in many fights, but the one at D6... It was something different. He was so close to death. It changed him and he needed time to heal and become at least a little like himself again.

The second wave came when he looked down.

With shock all over his face, he watched Anna‘s filling out belly, already big enough to clearly say, even under all her clothes and ranger jacket, that… she‘s expecting. For a moment there, Artyom completely blacket out – this was pretty much on the complete end of things he expected to see. He was totally speechless, just staring at her.

She looked… for about five months pregnant and that meant…

Anna was shocked too but quickly got herself together and wanted to ask Artyom to explain himself but then she noticed Pavel nervously standing behind him and something in her head clicked.

 

„You...“ her blue eyes intensified like if she was predator seeing a prey. At first, he seemed familiar to her but Artyom took all of her attention – now, she finally realized who that man was. She remembered him. She saw him when captured by Lesnitzky. Artyom told her something about him afterwards too, but not much. What in the hell were they doing together? „What‘s this supposed to mean?!“ her mettle came out and Pavel realized he‘s in trouble, backing up one step.

„ _Blyadj_. She remembers me, Artyomich. This wasn‘t a good idea,“ he whispered nervously. He knew what he would have done to himself if he were her. It wasn‘t anything good.

„I‘ll… I‘ll explain,“ Artyom quickly blinket like he was trying to wake up from a dream, still totally not sure if it‘s not the case, and tried to not concentrate on Anna‘s belly and all the questions that came with it. „I‘ll explain,“ he repeated himself, this time with his voice more stable.

„I suggest you to,“ she wasn‘t getting any nicer.

From that little Artyom knew of Anna, which was probably enough, he was pretty sure she would be able to kill Pavel if he didn‘t gave her good explanation, so he really tried to find the easiest and quickest way to do so.

„We… It‘s long story and it can be told after, when we have time. What is important now is that we were heading to Red Gates and heard-“

„You were heading to Red Gates?“

It starteed to look like anything Artyom said made Anna even more defensive and unhappy.

„I will explain why after, _I will,_ “ he looked her into the eyes and tried to remind her that they were… partners, that they went through those things before the battle together and she can trust him but that made her only more adamant in taking it all profesionally and more seriously because she didn‘t intended to let anything personal cloud her judgement. „We met a family of refugees who told us that there‘s envoy… You. You‘re here… discussing something about Leonid Moskvin but they knew it too. That means Red Line knows it, whatever you want to do.“

 

Right when Artyom said it, man in the middle showed even more fear in his face and quickly looked at Anna. She just sighted and stook her head.

„Shit,“ she started to rub her forehead. „That‘s not good. We should probably act faster than we wanted.“

„What‘s going on, Anna?“ Artyom raised his voice.

„This isn‘t your mission. I wish I had time to deal with… whatever the hell you are doing,“ she looked at him and then Pavel, „but I don‘t.“

„We can help. We _are here_ to help,“ he tried to convince her with more and more urgent tone. It felt like they were all over at the beginning, when she would call him rabbit and saw him like nothing but burden. But he wasn‘t one. He was determined to help.

„I should get back and tell him,“ said younger man.

„We will check with our spies if they know something that could help us,“ leader of Komsolomskaya gave Anna firm nod. "Or that we don't know yet."

„Don‘t you think I _deserve_ to be part of this?“ Artyom raised his voice and this time he wasn‘t arguing or begging, this time his tone was sharp and strong, letting his pride out a little for once in ages, letting others know and reminding them who he is and what he did for the whole Metro.

For a moment, they all got silent and stiffened. Even Pavel was suprised – Artyom was a skilled fighter, he knew what‘s doing and he was sure that if he wasn‘t so keen on his non-killing ways, he would have been the most efficent killing machine. Not though… Not it was like for the first time, he was letting it all out. The usually calm and quiet man was making others remember he didn‘t achieved everything he did just by that…

 

Anna carefully looked at the leader whom already awaited her responce.

„We need a moment,“ she hardly swallowed and checked everyone in the room with her look. Ranger next to her doesn‘t seemed especially pleased.

„You sure?“

„I can take care of myself,“ she snapped at him. „I need to discuss details with him, then we will continue. Alright?“ Anna looked back at the young man and he unsurely nodded. Without saying anything else, all of the men including Pavel left the room. When doors closed behind them, Artyom made one step towards Anna while she leaned on the table next to her with her arms folded.

„You better do your explaining, Artyom.“

„Wh… Why didn‘t you told me?“

Anna sighted.

Of course he asked about that first. It was exactly what she expected from Artyom, in fact. He was too good to not let himself push more important things aside to talk about that – about their child.

„I mean… Is it…?“

„Yes, it is.“

„Then why didn‘t you told me?“ he asked again, more urgently.

„Because it‘s what happened and you have your own life. Don‘t you think I don‘t understand? It was just… moment of weakness, what happened. We did it because it could have been our last moments. We did it and then… Life continues on. I take care of myself and you do your things. There was no reason.“

 

„ _No reason_? You should have told me, Anna,“ Artyom still looked at her not fully believing that what he‘s hearing and seeing is true. The baby inside her… it was his. And Anna was right – it was just that moment when both of them were vulnerable and sad, when they just so much needed to feel someone else close, to feel what they felt when they were connected, to remind themselves they are really alive one last time. There was nothing more in it, aside from slight sympathies and possible attraction. Anna was attractive and very capable woman afterall and Artyom was good looking man and one of the most skilled soldier she ever met. But now when he saw her he realized that something came out of that impulsive decision and it wasn‘t something he can just brush off. It was going to be new human.

„Artyom,“ she said again, more loudly, when he wasn‘t paying attention to her.

He looked up, his lips pushed together and fists clenched so shaking of his hands isn‘t so visible.

„We need to focus on task at hand. That is why you came, isn‘t it?“ she tried to be as collected and logical as possible. „Now explain to me, why the hell is _he_ with you?“

How was he even going to explain that to her?

There was no way he could tell he everything. There was no means of explaining it to her because it didn‘t almost made sense to Artyom himself.

„He was… I know you won‘t want to believe but you have to. You have to trust me when I say that he is no longer enemy. He can help. He will help.“

„You can‘t be serious, Artyom,“ she laughted bitterly.

 

„I met him for the first time since our encounter at Red Square few days ago and he… He saved my life several times, he changed, Anna. He actually changed, understand? And the thing we need the most now is someone who understands Red Line‘s inner mechanics and their thoughts and knows the people.“

„He‘s the one who unleashed the virus on Oktyabrskaya, Artyom,“ she was getting angry again. Ironically, she reminded him so much of her father in that moment. „He killed innocent people, he did something so incredibly disgusting and wrong, I should have shot him in the head right there... Shit. He almost killed us, he decimated the whole station, he-“

„I know,“ Artyom slowly breathed out and closed his eyes for a moment. How should he explain it to her? How can he explain? „And I almost destroyed entire species of living, extremely inteligent and good beings, Anna.“

„Oh come on, Artyom! Don‘t you even start with _that_!“

„We wouldn‘t be here without the Dark Ones. They saved us at the D6!“

„And that was great of them, alright? But now we are rolling in our shit again and they are gone. They are not gonna help us anymore. Neither is he. He is a criminal and a murderer, Artyom, and he won‘t be part of this. Do you understand? This situation is fragile and delicate as it is. I don‘t know what you did with him, where you found him or why the hell have you even let him live but this is the end of our discussion.“

„You are trying to help Leonid became the leader of Red Line, am I right? That‘s your mission here...“ he realized. „Don't you realize he can help with that?“

„He will betray us, he is Red, Artyom! We are _not_ discussing this!“

„He won‘t!“ Artyom said it so loudly and stubbornly Anna stepped back. „He won‘t betray us. He will help us. I need you to tell me everything you know, everything you discussed here and then we can make a plan. I can do this.“

 

„Oh. Yes. Because you already saved everyone twice, huh? It‘s getting into your head, Artyom. The moment soldier starts to be cocky, he becomes inattentive,“ she warned him.

„This is not about my ego! I say it how it is, you don‘t understand,“ Artyom tried to make her understand but he realized he is as stubborn as her father and probably as he himself. The kid is not gonna be too great in that regard… He really meant what he said. There wasn‘t piece of him that thought he can save everyone because he already did, he didn‘t think he is The Chosen One and he didn‘t think there is not possibility of him failing. In fact, he was pretty reconciled with that eventuality. He had to run out of luck someday. „I just… know this is the way. I feel it. Can you… Can you believe me? Can you believe my instincts?“

Maybe he liked to believe that it was something Dark Ones left in him. That may have been a little cocky but he wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe that he can trust his guts.

„We can‘t act just on that, Artyom,“ Anna‘s voice softened as she began to realize he is simply trying to help but he was wrong in her eyes anyways. „This… We may not succeed with it, we most likely won‘t, but it is important to take this opportunity for change and try to work with it and I can‘t let you destroy it. I can‘t let _him_ destroy it. Not again.“

„That boy that was here with you. He is with him? With Leonid?“

„Y-Yes. He is his... messenger.“ She didn't liked Artyom is changing subject as he pleases but it was also better than yelling at each other.

„All I heard about Leonid and the Red Line is that… some people said they are considering making him the leader but there was no way it is actually going to happen. Old Moskvin‘s supporters and ex-partners won‘t ever let that happen, right?“

 

„The boy needed to go into hidding,“ Anna sighted and tiredly sat on the table, looking over some papers and map of the Metro with few dots on it. „They would have assasinated him out of fear that people will choose him rather than the same shit over again. It‘s just few on the top, remaining leaders of the millitary but it‘s still enough. There is quiet uprising coming to life but… that won‘t ever happen with them in power and Leonid forced to hide in the tunnels like a rat. With spies everywhere and other troubles… Things are not looking good. But we are trying to… think of something,“ she looked back at Artyom.

It was still her but she seemed… somehow different, more… human now. It was most likely just something Artyom was not able to see in short time they spent together but he liked it. She really seemed to care for the cause and he didn‘t expected that from her.

„That‘s what I thought...“ he nodded pensively and looked into the ground, thinking. „I‘m… suprised Hanza and Polis even agreed to this, to help.“

„Well they did. After some pushing and arguing. It seems like there are still some good people amongst us. You need to understand that this is why I can‘t just let you walk into this and do whatever you want, especially to bring former, maybe ongoing, Red Major into this and just give him all of our information.“

„I understand,“ Artyom had to admit. It sounded bad. It seemed stupid to do that, he wasn‘t angry at Anna for doing so but he was still the one who knew the truth. „He can just go. But if he does, he will go back to the Red Line, he will be gone forever and if we loose after that, there is nothing we have. You have nothing even now, Anna. You can fight for the good thing but you will still lose. With him, we have something you didn‘t before. You have someone who understands Red Line, who understands their thinking and who can help. It won‘t matter if he betrays us because we would end up losing anyways. You know that.“

Something Artyom was saying resonated with Anna. Be it truth in his words or that grim idea of any outcom she herself felt is coming… She started to hesitate.

„I‘m sure he knows the people that are plotting against Leonid. He can help us get them out of the way.“

„So you‘re saying that in this brilliant plan, only assurance we have is you believing he won‘t stab us in the back?“ she asked with reasonably unsatisfied tone.

„Yes. Yes, that is what I‘m saying.“

Anna looked at Artyom for few minutes, just waiting for him to come up with something that won‘t be so incredibely risky, with something that she won‘t be so hesitant to do but she knew there is nothig. This was the Metro. Life wasn‘t easy. In fact, it was only hoping that it won‘t be as bad as yesterday… With the way life was, she could only pray Artyom knows what he‘s doing and listening to him means avoiding other, worse possibilities...


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed your Christmas, for me it's kind of "meh" but at least I have few days off work! I wanted to post this chapter kind of like Christmas present or something but didn't get to it so there you have it. It's a little longer, so that's good I guess! :D  
> I am sooo gratefull for everyone leaving kudos and comments you guys! This is my first "big" work on AO3, before I was never really active, and as you can see, I posted short Fallout 4 fanfiction few days back, and I would never be this active on here if I didn't got the feeedback, so I just want you to know how gratefull and happy I am for it. :) Thank you!

„So… As some of you here already know, Leonid is hidding close to Trubnaya,“ Leonid‘s messanger – Sergey – began to talk when everyone was inside again, ready to continue. „We had to flee month ago because the situation got too… risky to stay in there.“

„Did they… Was Leonid punished for helping me escape?“ Artyom interrupted him.

„No. Not really... There was so much chaos after it and so many things were happening… Before he could even be punished, General Moskvin was arrested and… Helping you isn't the problem. After D6, people started to ask for new leader. Situation was even worse than before. Not to mention hunger, so many soldiers dead, people confused and scared… But now, there was no leaders of the millitary and no real leader of the stations. It was hard to preclude any types of riots and such. That‘s why people started to see Leonid as a new possible leader and they… liked the idea,“ he smiled mildly. „Even he liked it at the beginning, because he wanted to do the right thing and remedy his father‘s mistakes. Korbut‘s followers were very clear that they won‘t let that happen, though...“

„Do you have any idea who those people leading this might be? Whose opinions count the most in this?“ Anna looked icily at Pavel who was just standing there till that moment with his empty eyes watching the map and listening to the words he tried to somehow process.

„I…“ he tried to sound firm and confident but everyone was looking at him and he knew he‘s enemy for everyone in the room. Well, almost everyone. „I-I would… have to go back and really find out but… Polzin, Romanov and Yakovlev seem like the best candidates. They were… close to Korbut. Good soldiers. Old communists. They were old enough so my guess is they are still alive because they wouldn‘t go to the battle... They would always stay at home as the back-up.“

„They didn‘t,“ certain type of fear appeared in Sergey‘s face that was indication that he knows people Pavel is talking about. „They are the ones we thought...“

„They must have spies everywhere. It‘s… suprising they didn‘t infiltrated your little group of Leonid loyalists yet,“ Pavel grinned slightly.

 

„We are careful,“ Sergey frowned a little – he didn‘t felt extremely safe talking to Pavel because he knew him, at least heard of him. He was one of them, one of the brainwashed communists that would do anything for the Red Line. Including unleashing virus that killed so many people. But this was everything they had now… and he had to work with that. „We also have some unexpected allies. Major Orlov and then Pasternak… They are helping us, as much as they can.“

„They are all in for this?“ Pavel seemed qenuinely suprised.

„Yes. Why wouldn‘t they be?“ Sergey asked defensively.

„Just… I just wouldn‘t expected them to... I guess it makes sense. They were never...“ _Such obedient sheeps as I was_ , he thought but didn‘t said it oud loud, of course. „Good it‘s them. People respect them. It‘s good. Yeah...“ he finished quickly and nodded.

Artyom gave him quick look. He still wasn‘t sure. He understood Anna‘s distrustful face, it was fully understandable nobody was putting much trust in Pavel but… he believed he can trust him. He knew. At least he hoped he knows.

„Why exactly was this meeting assembled then?“

„Because the election is in three days. We don‘t have much time to act,“ leader of the station answered Artyom. „They will win it if we don‘t do something about them. And after that… there will be no way to put Leonid on top. They will do everything to find him and get him out of the way and everything will continue as it was till now until another tragedy happens...“

 

„They are controlling people by fear,“ Sergey sad with depressed tone. „A lot of the soldiers want Leonid as a leader too, they don‘t want to keep fighting and dying but as long as they are above them, they won‘t just turn on them. We just need to get them out of the way and then… Then we believe people will have courage to stand for what‘s right, for Leonid.“

So what they needed was to assasinate the opposite side… Somehow, I didn‘t felt perfectly right to Artyom but he knew it needs to be done. There was no other way. He knew how far will Reds go if they let them and Leonid was good kid. Maybe unexperienced, young and not the best fit for a leader but future with him at the top still seemed a lot more acceptable than chaos that will sooner or later come with those who share Korbut‘s mindsets.

„This is where you can help,“ Anna turned her attention to Pavel again, who already expected her to. He felt his throat getting dry and stomach doing all kinds of stuff. It felt wrong, what they wanted them to do but at the same time he understood it‘s a good thing. He heard their arguments and he knew that what they are trying to do is only right decision.

When he didn‘t responded for a few second, Artyom looked at him. Pavel felt his stare so he looked up and after Ranger gave him assuring smile, he nodded a breathed out.

„Tak tak tak, alright,“ he forced himself to get it together and with his back straightened, he looked at Anna. „I can get back and say I was captured by the bandits. They already… captured me once, it‘s nothing they wouldn‘t believe. With some luck, I will get to the ones with authority and… I can uh… say that I know where Leonid is, khorosho?“

Sergey didn‘t seemed too happy about that plan.

„Come on, I won‘t actually tell them. I will say I overheard some refugees while getting to the Red Line or somethin‘. They will… jump after any opportunity to kill Leonid, no?“

„Yeah… That‘s probably right...“

 

„Best and probably the only choice we have would be to somehow lure them to the tunnels, saying that Leonid is there. Only problem is that I don‘t see a way how to do so with all of them.“  
Sergey nodded.

„I agree. They won‘t be hesitant to send as much soldiers as possible to purge the station from Leonid and his followers, but there is no way Polzin, Romanov and Yakovlev are gonna go there with them. They will just sit back, safe and sound.“

It was delicate situation. Trying to assasinate them at one of the Reds stations would be too risky. It would only end up in chaos and too much bloodshed.

„Maybe… Maybe I can convince them,“ Pavel‘s voice was quiet and doubtful but he created interesting possibility.

„Can you?“

„It could work,“ Artyom immediatelly agreed and Pavel couldn‘t help it but feel warmness inside his chest when hearing how supportive Artyom sounds – like he was really believing in him. „You can play on their ego. Tell them that Leonid needs to see them before he dies to know what mistake he did. That them going there themselves will only enforce their position and people‘s respect. If you convince them that he is not a threat, only rebelling child, they could be willing to do it, am I right?“

Pavel hesitantly looked into Artyom‘s eyes.

„Well… It could work, da,“ he gave a nod.

Everyone in the room shared few uncertain, nervous looks with each other, thinking and trying to figure out if it really can work or if there is any other possibility. When it seemed like nobody is coming with anything else, Anna sighted and with her hands leaning on the table decided to make the decision.

 

„This is the best shot we have. We all know the circumstances are not ideal but this is what we have to work with and we _will_ succeed.“ Her solid, certain tone created some form of assurance in men around her. They all knew they are going against all odds but that was all they were doing, since the moment third word war broke and they had to flee to the tunnels. „Master Budnikov. I need you to choose your best men, as discreetly as possible, and let them know what‘s going to happen. Meanwhile our new ally here,“ she looked at Pavel, „will head to the Red Line and do his part. After that, everyone will wait at the tunnel between Sretensky Bulvar and Trubnaya,“ she pinned her finger at the map. „Leonid has already some of his men there and your people will get there through Dry Station and over the surface. We _have to_ do this before the election.“

Artyom was honestly… impressed by how good leader Anna seemed to be. She was so much like her father. Strong, decisive and confident.

„What about me?“ he asked.

„From what I‘ve heard you‘re a skilled fighter. You will be needed,“ said Budnikov.

„Maybe I should go to the Red Line with Pavel. If something goes wrong I may be able to secure the situation.“ And if Pavel is to start falter, he will be there to help with that too, Artyom thought in his head. Saying that out loud wouldn't do any good. His trust was real but not complete. He saw that there is still little part of Pavel that is not fully on board and felt like his presence could help, must help.

„He could pose as other prisoner. Someone who helped me escape from bandits,“ Pavel agreed with his proposal suprisingly fast. „It could work. They hate bandits. Well, everyone does.“

„Are you sure nobody will recognize Artyom? He was your prisoner after all,“ Anna reminded him with not so hidden bitterness in her voice. Pavel just frowned a little and shrugged his shoulders.

„Only people who… um, interrogated Artyom, were Korbut and Moskvin. There were some other people who saw him but… He can wear something over his eyes or somethin'.“

„That's our plan? 'Something over his eye or somethin.'?“ Anna chuckled and Artyom immediatelly gave her 'be nice, we talked about this' look which made her only a little less hostile while looking at Pavel.

 

„It will work. We can't know until we try it anyways.“

„You're right,“ she sighted. "I suppose..."

„So… Are we clear on everything then?“ Sergey gave everyone in the room inquiring look.

„If anything comes up, use the radio to contact us. This is quick and not fully thought but as Artyom here said… it has to work,“ she looked at him and for the first time, it looked and sounded like she really meant it and showed him some form of geniune respect. „We'll give you two Walkie-Talkies. You _have to_ contact us as soon as you know when they're going to make a move. Men will be ready but I won't risk anything. The more information we have, the better.“

„Understand,“ Artyom gave her firm nod. Budnikov and old man that was there with him immediatelly stormed out of the room. Sergey stood around for a while and talked to Anna. Tall Ranger who Artyom guessed was her sort of bodyguard – not like she really needed one – turned to them and offered his walkie-talkie.

„Take it. Be sure to hide it somewhere so they don't find it on you. I'm sure you understand how important it is that they trust you.“

„I do,“ he took the radio from the soldier and was ready to leave, but when he was already in the door, Anna shouted on him.

 

„Artyom!“ Ranger turned with slight fear that she changed her mind or something. „Go with the one of the guards to the depot. They will give you some clothes that won't seem too prominent at the Red Line. Then you can set off. Don't do anything stupid, understand?“ she said it sounding almost like an order. He nodded and continued on. It was kind of cute, he smiled for himself. It was Anna's way of telling him to be carefull and no matter how she put it, he knew and was glad she still cares for him.

„Ready to go back? _Again_?“ Artyom chuckled and turned his head to Pavel who just silently walked next to him.

„I really don't know how to feel about this plan, chuvak,“ he seemed quite nervous but when looking back at Artyom, he realized there is no other way anyways. There was no going back and he didn't wanted to go back.

„I know,“ Artyom nodded. They walked through the station behind the soldier who guided them without word, he wasn't probably even listening to them. „But it will work, I can feel it.“

„Well, you have history of being able to fuck up Red Line’s plans, so maybe we’re gonna do just fine then,“ he grinned at Artyom, hinting at their past experiences. It was strange, how something so serious at that time seemed kind of like _good old days_ now.

Artyom chuckled, feeling weird form of nostalgia.

„Yeah, I guess so... I just want you to know that... you don't have to be the one to do it or even... see it. Before they kill them, you can just go.“

„Caring about my feelings so much, huh, Artyomich?“ Pavel immediatelly used joke as form of avoiding real answer. It wasn't that he loved those people too much. They were just... his people. Guys he looked up to few years back. People who knew his father. It just all came to being thankful for everything Red Line gave to him again, as always.

But maybe, Pavel though, maybe betraying it in this particular situation is way of giving back to his station...

 

Artyom knew its better to not presure Pavel so didn't said anything else. They got to the depot so there was no time to talk anyways. Pavel sat down, resting his still a little painful leg, while Artyom was given some clothes that will make it more believable that he is nobody important. He left his Ranger gear and guns at the table and was left just with knife and some old gun, rusty and shitty enough to be believed to come from bandits.

Then they set off. It was another silent walk - this time only because how nervous both of them were. They began to realize they are going to do something so insane and risky even Artyom's knees shivered. No going back now...

It was only about ten minutes till they reach the gate when Pavel loudly sighted and looked on Artyom.

„Tak tak tak, d’Artagnan. Let‘s recap. We were both captured by the bandits and taken to the Dry station.. You three weeks before me. You’re from Novokuznetskaya and there is nothing interesting about you, OK? Just nod and agree with everything they say, tell them... you want to fight for the Red Line and shit and I’ll do the rest, they’ll buy it. Hope they will.“

„They have to. Hopefully they won't find it too convinient we know about Leonid.“

„I think they’ll believe me. I know... what to say to make them go after him.“ Pavel said fairly confidently. He thought about what to say the while time they walked and made little speech to be sure. It was good, it had to work. „Almost there,“ he spoke again, this time his voice was slightly shaking. He knew this tunnel. His body already tense as the walked through the last turn, soon to see the gate.

„Pavel,“ Artyom said in a tone that immediately made him look. „This is a good thing. We’re doing the right thing and... we will make it. Whatever happens, just remember that... we are Musketeers, right? One for all, all for one. I have... your back, so... please have mine too, alright?“

Pavel didn't realized his legs stopped walking as he stared at Artyom who was clearly trying to appeal to his feelings, and he was quite succesful...

„Konechno. One... for all, huh?“ He nodded at him, walking again, still a little shaken by his worlds. But there was no time for that because they could already see the gate and guards at the gate could see them.

 

„Stop right there!“ Shouting finally ended the moment between the two men and they both fully turned their attention to the guard and the mission itself. „Hands above your head, right now!“

Pretty agressive, Pavel thought.

„Easy easy, tovarish!“ They both followed the order but slowly continued walking towards. „Is this how we greet soldiers when they get home, huh?“

It was him again. Fully sanken into his old personality, into Pavel that Red Line created, with his joking tone and bright confidence.

What he said made guards confused but not less hostile.

„Idetify yourselves!“

„Major Pavel Igorevich Morozov, long lost comrade! And this one... Alexej... Petrov was it, nu?“ he turned to Artyom and for a second shocked him with his brilliant acting abilities. Soldiers seemed convinced too, letting their guns down, still cautious, but not too much anymore.

„That’s right. Petrov, Novokuznetskaya station. No fancy titles.“ Artyom gave assuring nod.

When they walked right to the soldiers, Pavel dropped his arms down and showed his dog tags.

„Shit, it's... really Major Morozov,“ one of the soldiers said with shock while the other one looked at the tags – it seemed he recognized him by the face.

„Well of course it's me! Will let this slide since you haven't seen me for so long,“ he grinned.

„Sir, welcome home, sir. We had information that you were killed at Red Square, five months ago.“

„Yeah yeah, I almost way, he tried. Tch, suka... I barely survived and then damn bandits found me. Held me captive 'till now. Him too – we finally managed to escape few days ago. Was a damn fight but comrade right here was big help.“

Artyom tried to look... normal, under his thick beanie and torn jacket. He wasn't sure if he is half good actor as Pavel but if he was going to continue like this, it seemed that he won't have to say anything at all because he was fooling everyone perfectly.

„Bandits, of course...“

„Damn. They are like rats, always coming back... We should get you inside, sir, there... is just lot of changes since your last visit,“ soldiers began to look nervous and not so confident, realizing they are standing in front of their superior and that they are letting him into the station on the bring of civil war.

„Take me to whoever is in charge, I have _a lot_ to talk about. Comrade Petrov here is going too – he deserves damn prize for what he did.“

„Comrade Major Romanov is here. We’ll take you to him at once.“ He nodded and right after that asked for gate to be opened.

 

So this is it, Pavel thought, standing in front of the doors to his home after so many months, with a mission to infiltrate and destroy... It felt so strange, unnatural, but he had to. There was thought of how easier it would be if he just got back and... that's it. Just continue living his old life. But that couldn't happen. He wasn't going to betray Artyom, even though his mind was questioning, there wasn't one cell in his body wanting to betray that Ranger, for some reason...

He couldn't lost him – something in him told him that it isn't an option.

So they entered the station. Ammount of soldiers behind the gate made Artyom wonder how the hell did the family managed to escape. Just the fact it was more guarded from inside, stopping people from coming out, not the opposite, was twisted. Inside, it kind of looked like any other station. With fewer people standing on the streets and in the market and more soldiers, but other than that pretty normal...

 

They ascended on the second floor and walked towards their goal – guarded door with sign with ‚restricted‘ at the end of the hallway. Soldier that acompanied briefly explained whats going on and after that, they were granted entrance.

Romanov was sitting behind his table, flipping through some papers when they entered. He looked as Pavel remembered him – strict look, grey, dissapearing hair and admirable beard.

„What is this?“ he asked right away, calm but alerted, and it took him few looks at both men before he recognized Pavel. „Morozov?“ He gaped.

„They came just now, sir. Major reported that he had been captured by the bandits, sir,“ soldier quickly explained, obviously trying to get at major’s good side.

„That right. Glad to be back, comrade, sir,“ Pavel sharply nodded with a proud smile. Romanov seemed shocked and not in a bad way.

„Wha-... We were positive that you are dead." That was probably why he looked like he saw a ghost. "And who is this? Come here, sit down. You’re dismissed, soldier, thank you,“ he waved at the man and clearly started to pay attention only to other two men. Soldier immediatelly closed the door and dissapeared.

Pavel and Artyom both sat down, but one of them wasn't as confident as the other. Artyom was beginning to feel nervous – didn't happen often, but most of the time, he could only count on himself, there was nothing that could suprise him, nothing he can't handle. Now... everything was depending on so many different factors and people and there was nothing he could do about it but do his part. That was what made him so stressed out.

Pavel on the other hand seemed confident – almost as if he wasn't even acting. It seemed more like he totally forgot and just got back home, his usual self as before everything happened, like nothing changed.

He had to believe in him, Artyom repeated in his head. He believed in him...

 

„So... talk! What happened?“ Old man asked with his almost uncomfortably hoarse voice. He seemed curious, almost excited.

„Uhg,“ Pavel sighted annoyingly. „I'm gonna be honest, da? After Red Square, I was left half dead and managed to crawl into the Metro. I guess I would have died if they didn’t found me - the bandits. Usually they would just fucking shot me but half of their gang was killed by group of damn Nazis so they needed menpower. Someone who would work their fucking machines till they drop. Again.“

„Oh yes, I remember you have already the experience,“ Romanov chuckled. This was good, it was good – he seemed to believe and was in good mood. „What about him?“ He then turned his gaze to Artyom.

„Oh, tak tak, he had the same fucking luck as me. Got there... few weeks earlier, chto?“

„Yep. You came when it was almost a month...“ Artyom gave a nod, trying to sound not interested and not worth too much attention – that was what they needed.

„Made it long there, this one,“ Pavel continued with his performance. „We quickly clicked and when I healed, we said fuck it. Tcha, fuck them - fucking rats. You see, he was there really long, so he realized there is a hole between their shifts. We managed to take few of them down and escaped. Didn’t even chased after us. Ladno... that’s not what I need to tell you. What I need to tell you is what I heard on the way here,“ Pavel leaned closer to the table with his face now completely lacking smile he had seconds ago – now he looked almost dangerous, feral look in his eyes. „You have some problems with the fucking kid, huh? Leonid?“

„Ugh,“ Romanov sighted with clear disgust. „Don‘t even let me start on that...“

„Well, maybe you should. Because I may have some goods news for you,“ Pavel gave him insidious smile. "Here we go."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I um... actually wrote another chapter?! Whoaaa what? Yep. We're getting close to the reason I began to write this in the first place so that might be it. This makes me hopefull that I might actually finish this before the end of the year. We'll see. Anyways, enjoy this chapter and hopefully I will write next one soon!

Artyom was sitting on the bench, watching everyone just passing around him, back and forth, people running around and talking so loud and so much, everything just merged into this hum that eventually became silence in his head so he can just watch and think without being distracted.

After Pavel told Romanov about Leonid, chaos broke through. Not in a bad way, if there even is good type of chaos. It was actually most likely what they wanted… Reds started to lose their shit. It worked – just the idea of almost having Leonid was enough for Romanov. He called others to the station immediatelly for crisis meeting.

Pavel told them that no matter what happens, even if they have control over the stations officially, as long as people know Leonid is alive with the things he stands for, they will never have full control. They will always be people wanting to stand behind Leonid and it will be just matter of time before he will destroy them. Romanov couldn‘t jump on what Pavel said quicker. It was almost too easy. Maybe because they were too corrupt and too proud. Exactly as Sergey, Pavel and everyone else knew – they wanted power, it spoiled them.

That made them predictable and weak – in a sense.

And that gave Artyom and others slight chance to actually win.

„They‘re here. Let‘s go,“ Pavel‘s voice broke through the silence as he walked to him. Artyom looked up. He seemed… cold, serious. It was making Artyom even more nervous than everything else but when he stood up, Pavel gave him slight nod and something close to this gentle, soft smile appeared on his face for a second.

Artyom breathed in and out. Everything is gonna be alright, he told himself. He was through worse. People just always scared him more than the mutants. They were too complicated…

 

„You alright?“ Artyom whispered carefully when they walked towards the big room where all the important people were. All three of them came in those two hours they waited - Polzin, Romanov and Yakovlev were all there.

„Let‘s really try now, Artyom,“ Pavel was looking straight ahead and his voice was dull so Artyom decided that is not enough for him as an answer and grabbed Pavel‘s hand, making him turn with all of his attention. He stared at his hand first, held by Artyom‘s, and then quickly shook it off when wave of tingles and heat came through his body. „What are you doin‘? We‘re fine, this is… I haven‘t changed my fucking mind so just play along, let‘s go,“ he seemed a little frustrated, his voice shaking a little.

Artyom didn‘t got a chance to say anything else because they already entered the room. There was only three of them – the leaders – and the two soldiers. When Pavel with Artyom sat next to them, soldiers were dismissed, leaving them in the room alone.

„Are we sure we want him here? He could be a spy,“ tallest men of them looked at Artyom. That was Polzin. He seemed tough and strict – even more than Romanov. His face was full of scars and it also seemed that he was burnt on some places. It became clear to Artyom that it was probably not wise to stand against this man in his prime days. Better be carefull about this one.

„Don‘t worry, Rodya. Major Morozov assured us we can trust him,“ Romanov reassured him calmly.

„I made sure, sir. We can,“ Pavel immediatelly gave him firm nod.

 

„Alright. Alright. So… We received all the information, but we better listen to this again. So you‘re saying you heard about Leonid‘s position? How can we be sure he‘s really there?“

„It could have been just his people trying to confuse us. They may have recognized you,“ Yakovlev agreed – he seemed least physically able out of all of them, which made Artyom cautious of his other abilities, which would probably be his brains.

„Our scouts have been investigatings that location for some time,“ Romanov spoke again. „We suspected Leonid to be somewhere around there, at least from the little information we have. Now it seems he really is. I would consider it too Great of a coincidence if this information was false...“

„The tunnel between Sretensky Bulvar and Trubnaya is believed to be impassable for some time. But as we know… Leonid is very good at sneaking around. I remember Maxim talking about this idiotic hobby of his all the time, since he was little kid. He was always hidding, running away.“

„Maxim should of made him become a man when he had a chance. Now we have to deal with this damn rebelling kid. This all could have been avoided,“ Polzin grunted. He always made Pavel nervous, he made everyone nervous, in fact. He remebered how scary he was for him when he was a kid coming to the Red Line for the first time. Polzin was telling his father that he should have left him there to die. Pavel didn‘t forgot about that – he couldn‘t wait to put a bullet between the eyes of that old man.

„I agree,“ he said swiftly. „I-I completely agree. The problem is that… he didn‘t,“ he put all of his feelings aside and spoke in that playful, confident voice again, looking straight at Polzin and others. „Now we have to deal with his bullshit and we will. We will. Somebody has to take care of the Red Line and after what happened, we _have to_ do everything to assure our power, right? This shit… We can‘t be weakened like this, not with Nazis, bandits, even fucking Polis and Hanza just snooping around, waiting for their golden fucking opportunnity to destroy us, huh? Ain‘t that true? Don‘t you see it? That blyakha pidor works with them. I‘m hundred fuckin‘ percent sure ‘bout it.“

Artyom wasn‘t the only one suprised by Pavel‘s sudden aggression. He felt that maybe there was something true in what he said – maybe he was letting some of his inner frustration out in a way.

 

„Major Morozov is most likely right,“ Yakovlev nodded appreciatively. „Leonid is a coward. He is just one little confused child, he‘s not a real man. He will surely seek help of those who he knows are enemies to us. Those who will shield him no matter his poor character.“

„No matter the outcome of the election, he will win. He will. Because even if _we_ will control Red Line for a while, he‘ll crawl to the Hanza or Rangers and then they will strike. He knows how things work here. It‘s just matter of time till he tells it the more experiences people who will be able to use it against us.“ Pavel was convincing – it wasn‘t so hard to make them believe Leonid is the enemy, because they were already sure of it themselves. Bigger challenge will be to convince them to go there and kill them themselves.

„He‘s right,“ Romanov let out tired sigh. „We will deal with it now. This is chance we have and we will take it.“

„Those people we heard… They seemed to be telling truth. When they spoke about Leonid… they sounded hopeful. They thihnk he‘ll help them. It wasn‘t first time I heard something about Trubnaya,“ Artyom decided that he should probably say something too to make them believe him and support Pavel‘s words. „Befor Pavel came, I heard bandits talk about it, about something they heard. I wasn‘t exactly sure what they said but… Leonid seems sloppy. It was only matter of time before someone from his little free-fighters club will open their big mouth and say their location.“

All three of men looked at him with slight distrust, because he was still someone new, just a strange, and it definitely wasn‘t hard for communists like them to be paranoid, but he appealed to them by his words.

„Alright. Let‘s send some soldiers to the location. They‘ll kill whoever they find and if they find Leonid, they‘ll bring him here,“ Polzin decided.

„Why make it this difficult?“ Pavel chuckled. This was start of the tricky part and it made even him a little nervous but he still had faith in himself. „Sure, we could send someone to just kill him. But if you ask me, that‘s not what someone like him deserves.“

 

„What are you proposing, Morozov?“

„Taking him here and executing him before everyone would be good warning but it could make him martyr. It could push people to the wrong direction,“ Pavel began to use his strategic self, making Yakovlev nod. He had to convince them – all of them – that what he says is the best decision. „Then, on the other hand, just letting our people kill him and his people off, well… May be just my opinion but that… seems kind of like something he would do.“

„Are you calling us cowards?“ Polzin wasn‘t pleased with _that_.

„I sure ain‘t, comrade, sir,“ Pavel immediately shook his head, still calm and steady. „I know you won‘t be happy to hear this but after D6, people see the Red Line as weak. You haven‘t heard how they talk about us, all the things I heard from the bandits. We need to show them we‘re not weak. Because we aren‘t, huh? Blyadj. What I say we should do is go there and show them who has the power…“ he choose to look at Polzin because he damn well knew he will resonate with violent approach.

He could see the light in his eyes, that fierceness, lust for blood.

„Let‘s let our men capture them and then walk in front of that fucking brat in person. So he and everyone who would side with him sees how damn wrong he was. He‘s the reason I was almost killed at Red Square. He‘s the reason they destroyed our plan and everything else. That fucking little brat… He‘ll pay. He will.“

Artyom carefully looked at Pavel. He… Maybe he was convincing before, but now he seemed like he is really serious. It was almost like Artyom could feel his anger. It was real.

„We understand, Major Morozov. Everything that happened was… unpleasant, to say at least. We all put our faith in General Korbut‘s plan. We could have had the D6 and our empire as strong as ever, but instead we have this…“ Romanov looked down with shame.

„Leonid deserves to pay.“

„Instead, we are on the verge of anarchy. Chaos,“ Pavel started to struggle with controlling with his shaky, accelerating breath, feeling his words maybe too passionatelly. „We should be the ones to kill him, not normal soldiers – we. We should be the ones to show his people they can‘t destroy communist ideas and world we build here.“

 

„What are you proposing?“ insidious smile was appearing on Polzin‘s face, his left eyebrow excitedly rising.

„I say do the worst,“ Pavel smiled in similiar way, which made Artyom‘s stomach contract in uncomfortable way. „After we kill Leonid, we make sure everyone who followed him are made examples. Not that they would be able to act against us ever again….“

„Torture, hm? It is good plan, indeed,“ all men seemeed visibly pleased.

„It wouldn‘t hurt to also find some dirt on the boy. Anything that would make people see him as who he really is. Maybe, we could even try to _persuade_ some of his followers to tell people that he ran away, scared of everything he promised to his people. Then they will know we are the only ones who won‘t betray them. Only ones they can trust. People need to trust their leaders. Without that, they can‘t work in order. And without order…“ Yakovlev clearly planned everything in his head in incredible spead, Artyom could see it. He was smart. Not smart enough to see their plan, hopefully.

„Great idea,“ Romanov agreed.

„Sure. Why not. Let‘s do whatever it takes,“ Pavel continued. „This is the best way to do this. After we deal with him and put Red Line into order, we make sure the bastards at the Polis pay for what they did.“

„They will, Major Morozov. Do not worry. I believe you went through hell because of them, these past few months… But you can trust me when I say we will have our revenge. You will, too,“ Romanov looked at him in a way that made even Artyom falter. He could understand now… When Romanov was speaking he seemed so… He was convincing. What he was saying seemed like such beautiful idea – this whole thing with having order, family, place, purpose. When he said it, it sounded like the purest truth in the word.

 

„We will do this then,“ Polzin said firmly and it seemed the final decision was just made.

„I will garther our best men and prepare mission report.“

„I‘ll try to speak with my spies in the meantime. We had… some rumors about Leonid‘s homosexuality. Something like that or other perversity should help us make story that will make people want to forget him for good after we are done. Make sure nobody else knows about this. We know there are ones that sympathize with Leonid‘s ideas. We can‘t risk anything,“ Yakovlev got up with his notes in hand and gave everyone quick look.

„Understand. Selection is close. Eigh hours should be enough time to prepare, agreed?“ Polzin followed.

„Yes, it should be enough.“

„We will meet before 45 depot in 7 AM then. I will tell my men to secure the tunnel before, so we don‘t run into any problems. As secreetly as possible. Are we clear on everything?“ When Polzin stood up, everyone else did too, just from the sheer weigh of their respect for him. After nod from everyone, Polzin set off but just before the door, he turned and walked to Pavel. „You are incredible benefit to the Red Line, comrade. Your loyalty won‘t be forgotten, be sure of that,“ he shook Pavel hand tightly and then walked off.

„As comrade Polzin said, Major Morozov, we are grateful for your suprising return. Now more than ever, Red Line lacks of good, true communists. You are one of them. I am sure your father would have been proud. And as I remember, he wasn‘t easy to please,“ Romanov smiled mildly but instead of smilling back, Pavel got shivers along his spine and strange, bitter taste in his mouth.

„Yeah, I remember that too. I‘m just… happy to serve, sir,“ he tried to quickly act like himself again but something about what he said, together with everything else, made him loose a lot of his energy and thrill.

 

When Romanov walked around the table and to them, he put his hand to Pavel shoulder and squeezed it for a moment.

„I am sure you went through a lot till this point. This is important and can‘t wait, but after this mission, you will be rewarded. Now, you have few more hours of rest before we will set off. Both of you,“ he looked at Artyom and it seemed that he is a little more warm towards him now. „Let me escort you somewhere you can lay your head down.“

Artyom walked behind Pavel and Romanov as they continued through the station. It almost looked he could be decent man if you put that insane ideology aside. Artyom knew this – not everyone on the enemy side is… inherently evil. Not everyone who aims gun at him is. That was why he tried to stay away from killing as often as possible. But it didn‘t changed the fact that this had to be done. No matter what good any of them had inside, they were creating chaos and saw it as order. That had to be stopped for the good of others.

When Romanov left and Pavel with Artyom were sitting in smaller, quiet room, with light coming only out of small oil lamp, he could finally fully notice that grim aura coming from Pavel, just as he was sitting there with his hands resting on the bed between his legs.

„You… are really good at lying. It‘s almost… admirable,“ Artyom said awkwardly because he felt like it‘s not right time to talk but he still had to.

„Da da, well… Thanks for the compliment, Artyomich…“ he smilled just a little, but not in his usual way, this time it seemed like someone forced him against his will. „I guess I should be good at it…“ he said so quietly Artyom almost didn‘t hear him, while staring into the ground.

It felt… painful to look at him like that. Artyom wanted to… Well, his strongest urge was to hug him because it just seemed like the most natural, good thing to do, but something told him that wouldn‘t help.

 

„You can rest now, Pavel. After you wake up… I need to tell others what‘s gonna happen,“ he said carefully, taking his Walkie-Talkie out. „We have to make sure nobody hears us. You did great, you… really convinced them. You almost… convinced me too,“ he grinned.

„Let‘s… ugh, let‘s do it now, chuvak. I want to just… have it over with,“ he sighted and got up. „Do it fast, d‘Artagnan. Tell… them everything you need to tell them. This better work...“ Pavel was already outside before Artyom opened his mouth. It seemed it really took a toll on him. Artyom knew it will he hard to come back home and lie, lie and betray the people who were his family for his whole life but… he didn‘t expected to feel this way when seeing Pavel in this situation. He tried to put it aside but he couldn‘t.

He tried to remind himself that there are more important things than two of them. Common good.

Artyom took the Walkie-Talkie out of his well hidden pocket and looked at it for a moment. It was time to tell Anna and others everything. It was time to end this and have few months of peace. They were _this close_. And his intuition told him they will win but… something didn‘t felt right. Something he knew he shouldn‘t care about now.

He hid himself under the blanket, just to be sure nobody hears the sounds of the transmitter and turned it on. There was a lot to talk about...


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kyaaaaa, another chapter! ヾ(o✪‿✪o)ｼ  
> I'm so happy we are moving so much in the story and revealing shit, haha. Hope you enjoy!

Just few more minutes. Few more minutes of sleep…

Artyom was slowly opening his eyes. At first, he was sure he won‘t fall asleep – not with how insanely nervous he was after talking to Anna. But after seeing Pavel calmly snoozing in the bed next to him, nervousness changed into tiredness and that changed into him passing out too.

Now… he felt this familiar feeling of his head being too light and body too heavy, as if he was waking up. When he opened his eyes though, he didn‘t saw that ugly grey ceiling lit by small fire in the oil lamp – he didn‘t saw anything, just darkness.

Only after moving his head to the right, he realized he‘s laying on the ground on the end of long hallway, with light only far away from hit, flickering in the old fluorescent tubes. Artyom quickly got up, confused for a moment. Then… his heart rate slowed down as he realized it‘s just a dream, that kind of dream he knows. This was a little different though, even thought it was similiar to… to the time he was in Maxim Moskvin‘s head…

„Hello?“ he shouted, waiting for Little One to appear, but he didn‘t.

Strange. What is this then?

He looked around the hallway. There were doors at each side as far as he was able to see. Whatever this all meant, Artyom decided to follow, so he slowly started to walk ahead, letting his intuition guid him. These doors seemed familiar. Like he saw them somewhere. Of course, it was just doors but there was this feeling, like he knew what‘s behind them. This time, atmosphere wasn‘t as agressive and hostile as when he was in Maxim‘s head. Dim light coming seemingly out of nowhere and sometimes from behind the doors had light blue color, changing into darker shades in some places. He felt safe in that hallway, not like last time but also… strangely sad, almost depressed.

Artyom would have walked past another door but sharp feeling stopped him. This time, he felt that behind the door on his left, there is… unknown.

Light around these doors was a lot darker than others, almost black. Artyom was pushed by his curiosity step by step, getting closer alrough he also sensed some unwelcoming energy – it was like there was something he was not meant to see. Something that wanted to stay hidden.

He opened.

 

When he did, he found himself in something that looked like selected showers in the millitary part of the station. They looked about the same everywhere, so he couldn't really know where exactly he is.

After taking few more steps, he saw figure standing in front of the locker. He was with his back to him, clearly young boy, his body still fairly thin and with not much muscle, but it was clear that he was going through some millitary training because he was bruised on few typical places and some of his biceps were starting to show some growth. There was fresh wound on his back too, seemed like it was from a knife, already stitched, but definitely not healed.

He sighted, looking for something in his locker and then, with just towel around his waist, walked to the right, to the door next to Artyom.

When he saw the boy from the side, he immediatelly recognized his features. Bigger botton lip, puffier tip of the nose, scar going from the forehead to few inches below his eye.

Pavel.

Gosh. He looked… so young. It was so strange to see him with that… vulnerable, innocent expression and so much naivity to his face. He looked so unexperienced. How old could he be? Maybe sixteen, seventeen? Artyom was staring at him with shock, not able to understand why is he there, how is he seeing this or how did he even got into his head and for what reason.

Young Pavel stopped in front of the door and after moment of hesitation, he for some reason changed his plan, turned back and slowly, carefully walked closer to the sound of running water and occasional laugh and sounds of men talking.

 

Artyom was walking behind him, almost not breathing, like he was afraid Pavel can see or hear him if he‘s not careful.

There was thick wall behind the lockers and showers, made from glass from above ones waist. All Artyom saw was just silhouettes of people showering, so he couldn‘t really understand why is Pavel standing in front of it for several minutes, just staring, quiet. Right when he wanted to walk around so he can see his face, Pavel moved, carefully leaning on the side, looking behind the corner of the wall.

He was breathing quietly, at least he tried to, but his shoulders were shaking.

„What‘s going on?“ Artyom whispered, still confused by everything. After leaning to the side, he could see one of the men too, showering in the clear sight, water running down over his truly impressive body of capable soldier. Pavel finally let out shaky breath and right after that jerked back, quickly looking behind his shoulder. Artyom stepped back with his heart stopping for a moment, as it felt like Pavel looked straight at him, but he didn‘t. He was just checking if he‘s alone.

Artyom probably already figured what‘s going on somewhere deep in his mind, but there was no way he was admitting that, because… it was insane, it couldn‘t be true. With every passing second, Pavel seemed more and more nervous, fidgeting, pussyfooting on the spot, swallowing hardly and sharply. He looked back at the man, leaning carefully around the corner and then quickly back to the hidding.

It was only in that moment Artyom looked down and realized Pavel‘s other hand is down, pushed against his crotch over the towel.

„This is not…“ he was staring at him, eyes wide, mouth half open.

No no no. It was all just his wishful thinking. It was just his stupid little wish, just him trying to find something where it isn‘t. It couldn‘t be actually true.

 

When Pavel turned back to the lockers, he leaned with his back towards one of them and with his hads shaking and eyes flashing around the room, he closed them and queezed his manhood way harder then before. It was already standing up under the towel, demanding more attention. Artyom was still staring at the whole scene, not really sure if it‘s happening. Maybe it was just his dream, just his body trying to let off some steam, because he could feel himself getting aroused from what he saw too and he felt strange about that, especially if all of this really was true.

Pavel‘s mouth was opening and closing, as if he was moaning, only without slightest sound. After a while, he opened his eyes again, now clearly full of desire, and slowly looked around the corner again, this time with his hand already under the towel, stroking himself as he finally lost all of his self control.

Artyom was trying to calm himself down, gulping even though his neck was dry as hell. It was too late when he realized he hears steps, and it was too late for Pavel when he realized it too.

Boy panically turned back to see tall man in millitary uniform marching straight to him. Major. His face was scary just by itself – black beard, scar going over broken nose, dark brown eyes – but right in that moment, the anger that was in that man‘s face was enough to make Artyom take another step back while looking at Pavel with fear for his life.

 

„S-Sir, I'll...-!“

His blue eyes were wide open and full of _literal_ terror when he tried to speak. Artyom though he had only seen people with this kind of expression when demon was in front of them, or other hellish creature. But this situation...

„Shut up! Shut up and fucking move, now!“ he growled through his clenched teeth, as quietly as possible so men in the showers won‘t hear them, and took Pavel roughly by his head, pushing him away from the wall and further between the lockers.

„I‘ll… I‘ll explain s-sir, I...“ he was breathing panically, his eyes flickering, breathing intensifying to the maximum level.

„Shut up, right now! I don‘t need you to explain it, do you understand?“

„Father, pl-“  
  
„Do you understand?!“ he grabbed him by the neck and pushed him against the locker. Right after that, Major carefully looked around, listening for any signs of anyone hearing them, and when there weren‘t any, he turned his gaze back at Pavel, who was just shuttering under his grip, on the verge of crying. „I was already told month ago… that someone saw you watching others while showering and I was sure it was just disgusting lies, but...“

„I am so sorry, I just n-“

„No! Listen to me!“ he pushed him again and Pavel quickly nodded, biting his lip to keep quiet. „I already told you what are the rules here. I told you that you are my son, but this thing will not be permitted, do you understand? I don‘t care. I don‘t care what you want. Personal needs are _not_ in the first place here! You are part of the Red Line now, understand?“ Pavel quickly nodded again. „Whatever you feel, you suppress it, understand? Whatever you feel – _suppress it,“_ he stressed out the word as clearly as possible. „This will _not_ happen again, Pavel.“

When he finally took his hands of him, Artyom loudly breathed out together with Pavel. He couldn‘t do anything but just stare, just stare at how terrified Pavel was.

„Don‘t make me regret I took you in, son,“ he said it with cruel tone while gruffly patting Pavel‘s head, like he was brushing all that happened off, just like that.

„I w-…. I...“ it took the boy minute before catching his breath and making his voice not to crack. „I won‘t, sir. I won‘t,“ he quickly whispered. "I swear."

„Good boy. You are incredibly lucky, know that. You should be grateful. You have no idea how much. Now... get yourself together and come to the infirmary. Nurse needs to check on the stitches. She's already waiting for you,“ Major nodded and calmly, like nothing happeneed, walked to the door Pavel originally intended to go to.

 

Artyom stared at him as he was bending over to the ground, shaking arms rested on his knees. What he just… did to him, his own father. Artyom felt heartbroken for him. He carefully reached to Pavel with his arm like he wanted to comfort him but before he could touch him, everything cut to pitch black.

Ranger jerked and then quickly looked around.

„What the hell...“

„Artyom.“

He turned and finally saw him, Dark One. But he wasn‘t alone this time… One of the adults was with him and Artyom wasn‘t quite sure what to think about it.

„H-Hello. What‘s… What is this? Wh-Why…?“ he looked at them almost desperately, still shaken by what he saw and needing answers. „Why did you made me see that?“

„This is important,“ adult Dark One spoke.

„Important? For… who?“ he frowned confusedly.

„This is important. Important for everyone.“

„Everything is connected, Artyom. Everything you people do. They decided to… help,“ Little One said, trying to explain, but not explaining much. „Because this is important.“

„I don‘t… understand. What are you trying to say? That-?“

„You should wake up now,“ he cut him of abruptly.

„It‘s alright, Artyom. Just do good,“ Little One said right before Artyom opened his eyes again. This time, he was in the room he fell asleep in. He quickly blinked and turned his head to Pavel sleeping in the other bed. He was staring at him, baffled by the fact how different he was when he looked at him now. There was no way he could see him the same, not after that.

„ _God_ ,“ Artyom quietly sat up and burried his face in his hands. Why did they showed him? How was it important _now_? How could this help him, showing him something like that when he was already nervous a unsure enough.

 

He reached thoughtlessly for his journal, still kind of waking up, and only then realized he left it at the station, just to be sure. Reds finding his Walkie-Talkie was definitelly better option than finding his journal clearly stating that he is Spartan Ranger – he wouldn‘t be able to talk his way out of that one.

With unhappy grunt, he ran fingers through his short hair and closed his eyes.

How the hell is he supposed to process all of this without writting it down? It really… happened, right? He really saw young Pavel, trying to… jerk himself off not on one of the beautiful women he was flirting with at the Theatr but on… men.

Artyom slowly moved his eyes on Pavel.

He never showed any signs or anything... Did he? No. Of course not, he was flirting with women and talking about them from the moment they met. On the other hand it would… made sense to do that. Right? After what Artyom saw, he felt traumatized by it himself, so he was not able to imagine how Pavel felt in that moment and what that did to him.

All he felt now was sorrow.

Artyom painfully looked into the ground with his hands firmly held together. How could he show any sign of affection, if he felt some, after experiencing something like that? They way he said it... ‚Suppress it.‘ The way he said it was so.... But he still needed to be realistic. He had to tell to himself what he would have written down. ‚You were always too damn naive. Falling for people. You work better alone and they most likely don‘t like you back. Not the way you like them.‘

 

Artyom almost jumped up with three loud bangs on the door.

„Wake up, comrades! We‘re heading out in fifteen minutes!“

„We‘re awake!“ Artyom quickly blurted out. Pavel started to disapprovingly whine and turn in the bed. „We‘re awake...“

Steps were getting quieter and quieter until he couldn‘t hear them anymore. For some reason, thought of someone walking in made Artyom terrified. He felt like… they just experienced something… intimate. It was stupid. So damn stupid and inconvinient. He couldn‘t just concentrate on their plan and act normal around Pavel after what he saw.

„Ugh… Fuck, it‘s already…? I hoped it will feel easier after sleeping. It doesn‘t,“ he sighted and opened his eyes. After staring into the ceiling for couple of second, he turned his head to Artyom. His strange look send electricity along Pavel‘s spine and made him frown. „Why are you looking at me like this, Artyomich? Davai! S-Stop it,“ he sat up quickly and he looked like it is really making him feel uncomfortable.

„Sorry, I just… Sorry.“

„You look like we‘re about to die. Have a… little faith in us, huh? Did somethin‘ happened while I was sleeping?“ he stiffened.

„No. No, no, don‘t worry. I‘m sorry I just… I had a bad dream, that‘s it.“

„Well… Let‘s hope you‘re not a oracle then, huh, Artyomich? Would be a little cool, though,“ he sneered. It seemed that sleep helped his mood at least a little. It was… him again. But he was not the same to Artyom anymore. He couldn‘t be the same in his eyes now.

 

„Sure,“ he said after another pause but really tried to pull himself together. „They said we should wake up. I… already told you before you went to sleep but you already seemed really tired so… let‘s just remind us the plan again. Hanza and Leonid have all men waiting in the tunnel. Anna got back to me probably two hours ago, she said the scouts didn‘t found them, so that should be alright.“

„Okay, okay. This… we‘re really doing this,“ Pavel laughted and it was clear now he is just trying to mask his insecurity.

„We are. Aren‘t we?“ Artyom looked directly into his eyes. Pavel gulped and while looking at Artyom, he noticed there is something different about the way… he looks at him. Something was off but… not in a bad way.

„We are,“ he turned his look and nodded, trying to stay focused. „I‘m not running away now, I can‘t, really. Let‘s just… hope it works. Worst case scenario we… we end up dead, huh?“ he smiled in rightfully depressing way.

„We won‘t die. We‘re Musketeers, remember? They didn‘t died in that book, right?“

„Net. Of course not! You know what? You‘re right. We‘re gonna be just fine, chuvak,“ he smiled back at him and it seemed he really means it. They both already experienced feeling of being reconciled with a idea that they won‘t make it – Pavel thought that before Red Square and Artyom was sure he will die at D6. Now it was different. None of them wanted to die. None of them planned to let that happen.

 

They planned to finish this goddamn mission.

So after getting mentally prepared, they walked out of the room and joined others. Artyom almost couldn‘t believe it but it seemed that everyone was actually following the plan. They were getting ready - Polzin, Romanov and Yakovlev were already in the room too, ready in their millitary gear, ready to head out. It was about time things started to work out, Artyom thought, but he still felt a little strange because he was used to thing fucking up. The part that could end up worst was still ahead of them though, so he remained cautious.

„Comrade Petrov. I suppose you would be interested in a reward after all this, correct?“ Romanov spoke to Artyom when he was putting light armor on and it suprised him – he felt almost invisible till that moment and that was a good thing. He looked at the Major and hesitantly nodded. He felt Pavel‘s look at him as he too tensely turned to the conversation with fear that someone saw trough their lies.

„Yes, sir, I… Before being captured by the bandits I… It crossed my mind to join Red Line. But I was never sure if you would even accept me.“ It felt so strange to come up with lies like that, saying these things knowing they will be dead anyways and it‘s useless. It still felt wrong to say it – it felt wrong to go against Sparta, even through it was just an act.

„I can imagine live in a ‚free stations‘ must be hard. No order, no system. I can assure you, comrade Petrov, that we will very likely consider taking you in, after all this is done. As I already said before, loyal soldiers are precisely what we need right now,“ Romanov nodded with satisfaction and Artyom could almost hear Pavel breathe out with relief. Their cover was intact, for now.

 

„We will be soon ready to head out, comrades,“ he could hear Polzin‘s strong voice from across the room talking to Yakovlev as he prepared his soldiers and everyone was finishing their preparations. It was small group of people yet they were very big in their importance. Artyom wasn‘t naive – he knew that even through there is only few Red Line soldiers and his men are ready, it could still end up bad.

Polzin didn‘t choose them randomly – they were the ones with training and skills. Artyom just hoped Hanza and Anna really choose the best too and that Leonid and his men are prepared. It wouldn‘t be too good if he had to play along while killing his own men, they didn‘t even had plan for that possibility, but he fully believed it won‘t come to that.

„Are they ready?“ Pavel came cautiously to Artyom and tied his boots so they seem less suspicious.

„Yes. I managed to quickly contact Anna before. They should be ready. It will be… a little bit of improvisation, but it will work. Don‘t worry.“

„I‘m not,“ he retorted nervously. Artyom smiled.

„ _You are_. Don‘t worry.“

„You worry too, Artyomichka. Don‘t act like you don‘t,“ Pavel finally looked him in the eyes. Artyom had to admit he was right, he was worried. It seemed that they started to know each other and their behavior too well.

„Of course, it‘s… human. The thing with you is… maybe you don‘t really want it to work out. Do you?“ he lowered his voice and carefully looked around with his eyes to see if anyone is to disturb their little moment of honesty. Pavel frowned.

„You still fucking think I will snab you in the back, huh, Artyomich?“ Pavel was almost whispering now but it seemed that it‘s mostly because of how uncomfortable it made him to talk about it again other than worrying that other people will hear them. „What if it‘s right? What if I want to help them get rid of the kid, what would you do?“ Pavel was actually curious about the answer but didn‘t planned to betray Artyom. That would be stupid, he knew that. „Would you… take out your gun on me? Would you run? Would you try to kill them and die like a hero? Chto? What would you do?“

 

Artyom was silent for a moment, thinking.

„I would….“ Should he tell the truth? Saying it would made him feel bad because he would said out loud how terrible Ranger he had become. Just like the first time, Pavel managed to poison his mind and twist it into shape where he is the most important thing – not Rangers, Polis or his people. It would be nice to be honest and Artyom knew Pavel will appreciate what he‘ll say but he could also give him some leverage by saying the truth. No matter how much Artyom trusted him, it‘s never smart to tell something like this to anyone. „I would have stayed with you and… made you change your damn mind again. And then we would make things right,“ he sighted quietly and turned his back to Pavel before he could see his reaction.

He heard him gasp a little.

„Tch, deystvitel'no *****?“ he said it like he believed it was a joke but there was shock in his voice too. „Don‘t say stupid shit like that, chuvak. You‘re not Lesnitsky.“

„I wouldn‘t do it for the Red Line, or myself,“ he replied immediatelly. _I would do it for you_ , he wanted to continue, but stopped himself at the last moment. It was better that way.

Pavel gave Artyom genuinely puzzled look and before they could discuss any further, they heard big metal doors opening as the soldiers got ready and everyone started to head out.

It‘s time.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *really?


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH-MY-GOD! I am sooo glad to have this of my chest. These big events in the stories are always so stressfull for me, but I made it and now we have probably two more chapters before us which is sad but also exciting. I always get so nostalgic when finishing series, but I'll get into that in the last chapter. Next time I can finally give you some sweet sweet SMUT, oh yes baby, finally the thing I can't wait for from the beginning, haha! Enjoy!

Improvise. Tch. „What does that even mean, improvise?!“ Pavel kept asking himself as his heart gathered faster and faster pace and his knees began to tremble while walking. There was no way they‘re gonna win. There was no way they are just gonna walk there, Hanza takes care of all the Red Line soldiers, they will kill the important ones and that‘s it…

After short ride to Sretensky Bulvar, whole group was already advancing towards Trubnaya.

There was nothing more separating them from the big finish aside from few minutes of walk. There was no way to go back now, no way to change one‘s mind, no possibility to think about the decisions being right or wrong – doesn‘t matter anymore.

Red Line soldiers walked first, creating some form of shield for the elders coming in the middle. Pavel walked close to them, but not exactly with them, and Artyom tried to not attract too much attention at the end with few other Red Line soldiers.

They weren´t big army but against unprepared enemy, they were enough – of course, only if Leonid already didn‘t knew they‘re coming…

 

„We‘ve got some movement,“ one of the soldiers at the lead wearing one of those night vission goggles abruptly stopped, aiming his gun. Everyone else became alerted and fully ready for the fight. They were close already.

„It‘s been some time since you were in the field, huh, Sasha?“ Romnov looked at Yakovlev with amused face. Polzin just quickly turned to them with chuckle and then proceeded to order his men.

„I hoped it stays longer that way,“ he noted unhappily and Romanov grinned.

When Pavel watched them it all started to weight on him again. He started to see them as those heroes he knew before. Men that he looked up to, real soldiers like his father. Men that were his idols and models. They… were also just people. He had to keep telling himself in his head what Artyom told him and what they talked about him because as he looked at them, he saw just three old men that went through so much and who were so incredibly loyal to the communism and to the cause… Their lives had order and structure and they were soon going to die for standing for their beliefs. Was… that right?

Pavel turned his head to Artyom, looking at him over his shoulder, just a slightly, so he didn‘t even noticed, and then looked back.

His hands were sweating. Well, probably like everything else…

This was that moment, he thought. That moment they talked about. Would he really… stayed with him if he would betrayed Artyom? Would he really…- No. Artyom was soldier too. He too was so sure in his path.

Pavel… envied them that thing so much. He envied them their certitude. He envied them the place in themselves they could be sure of. Maybe the veterans in front of him were wrong, maybe they were wrong people and communism really wasn‘t the right thing. And maybe Artyom was wrong, with Sparta helping only when they want and keeping everything else for themselves. No matter where the truth was, both sides were sure of their position.

He wasn‘t. And it started to eat him from inside, just like it used to, once…

How much Pavel hated that feeling.

 

Gunshot jerked with Pavel as he was too deep in his own mind to concentrate on his surroundings and he quickly looked up.

„We‘re attacked!“ he heard from the front of their group and chaos began to break through the whole party. Even Artyom was suprised – it was late, it was too late, they were still not fully there, it wasn‘t supposed to happen that fast.

Everyone started to run from the tunnel to someone where the won‘t be in clear shot – mainly to the side rooms and tunnels, which wasn‘t exactly what they planned.

„Blyadj,“ Pavel cursed to himself and quickly tried to orientate in the chaos – he tried to find their three targets or at least Artyom between the running and shooting soldiers. How the fuck were Leonid‘s men supposed to know who to shoot?! They were right there with them, fuck.

When someone grabbed his arm, he swiftly took his gun out and was ready to shoot, only to see that it‘s Artyom.

„Wh-“

„We have to go,“ he looked at him urgently and turned his head to the right so Pavel can see Polzin, Romanov and Yakovlev escaping through the tunnel with three other soldiers. „Come on,“ he yanked with him and finally made him move with a confused nod. There was chaos all over them, Red Line soldiers getting shot by and shooting back at Leonid‘s people. As both Artyom and Pavel sat to the tunnel after their targets, he took out the radio. „Anna! They‘re running through the East tunnel!“  
„We have people there,“ she responded almost immediatelly, her voice tense but firm. „They‘ll be waiting. Be cautitous.“

„What are we gonna do?“ Pavel quickly looked at Artyom, feeling like he‘s the only one confused and stressed out and chaotic while everyone else have everything under control.

„They‘ll just shoot the soldiers first. Leonid wants to talk with the trio before they‘re out.“

„What? You haven‘t told me that!“ he barket at him.

„Wasn‘t important,“ Artyom turned to Pavel confusedly and slightly decelerated his pace. „He wants to talk to them, nothing more. You don‘t have to be there, we just have to go to make sure everything works and they can‘t escape.“

 

It was all happening too fast. Pavel wasn‘t able to catch up with anything, he felt like he has no control and that was making him crazy. All he could do was to follow Artyom and wait for the result, whatever result will come up from all of this.

„Fuck,“ they heard Red Line soldiers from the front, curshing and shooting as someone probably cut their way. As they turned, they were still far ahead of Artyom and Pavel, but both of them stopped – it wasn‘t wise to just stand there, in the middle of what‘s going to happen. As they turned too, Pavel almost got pulled the trigger on quietly approaching soldiers from the other side of the tunnel, behind them. These were Hanza‘s soldiers.

It was all… working out. Traitor and coward Leonid Moskvin, working succesfully with other traitors, Hanza and Rangers, with Pavel at the top of all that – he couldn‘t believe it. How did he got into that situation?

„Shit… We‘re surrounded, sir...“

„There‘s too many of them...“ Yakovlev nervously pussyfooted while looking at both sides as soldiers slowly kept going closer and closer.

„How the _hell_ did they know about this?!“ Polzin cursed.

Hanza soldiers already passed Artyom and Pavel who just stood there, doubtuflly, as they approached encircled group like they were some prey. Pavel‘s heart was raising like crazy. All of the sudden, everything was wrong. He thought he was sure, he thought everything that happened and what Artyom said changed him but now he wasn‘t sure, he wasn‘t sure of anything…

 

„Put your hands and guns down!“ Hanza commander ordered them harshly. „Now!“ Everyone was tense, even through there was no way for three old men and two remaining Red soldiers to escape from dozens of soldiers aiming at them around them, they were still cautious – those weren‘t just some old men. No, they were special, in a very bad way.

„No fucking way you-“ Before Polzin had time to actually shoot, one of the soldiers shot him into the hand. Old men fell to the ground with groan, holding his bloody hand. „You filthy Hanza. Fucking traitors, you think pact with that goddamn child will give you anything!“

„It will give them better future,“ said young voice coming from between the men, considerably more emotional than usually. He sounded hopeful, yet dissapointed, and carefull. Only when Hanza soldiers stepped aside to make a way from new comer, the trio was able to see him – Leonid. Unfortunatelly, thanks to men making way, he was not the only was who was seen now – between the Hanza soldiers, they could see Pavel and Artyom standing too. „I will definitely not give them the best future… But better than you will. I‘m sure of it….“ Leonid was… exactly as Artyom remembered him. Very gentle in this strange way – it was just so unnatural to see something like that in a man in the Metro. Everyone was supposed to be strong and tough, but not him. Yet he wasn‘t like before – there was this determination in his eyes, something that told Artyom that… he grew up, he matured. „Major Morozov,“ his voice faltered just a little when he laid his eyes on Pavel, standing there with his mouth slightly open, feeling like in a haze. „I have to say, I… When I heard, it was hard for me to believe you actually-“

„You _fucking traitor_ ,“ Polzin growled with such hatred in his voice Pavel felt shivers along his spine. Even through he didn‘t want to, he turned to him, fighting the urge to step back. „You… all of… all people.“

While Polzin looked like he would be able to kill Pavel with his bare hands in that moment, Yakovlev just amusedly laughted while shaking his head.

„Unbelievable...“

 

„This man here isn‘t a traitor. He had more courage than all of you combined. He knows that for the Red Line to truly prosper and-“

„Bullshit!“

„Shut up!“ soldier hit Polzin to the hed with back of his rifle and shut him up.

„To truly prosper,“ Leonid continued, „we have to change our ways. I‘m… sorry it had to come to this, I am. But there was no way you would listen. You didn‘t want to. You don‘t want change, you want this path that leads us only to the grave.“

„Oh you little boy,“ Yakovlev bitterly chuckled. „You tasted the power and now you think you know how to control the Red Line? Do you really think people will respect you? Do you really think you won‘t became their bitch right away?“ he looked at Hanza soldier in front of him and then spat at him, earning same punishment as Polzin.

„Anything is better than what you did… Anything.“ Leonid was determined and sure with his stand. It was hard for him to stand there, in front of the people he will order to be killed in a moment but he tried to remember everything people said to him – that he has to be strong, stronger than he think he can, if he wants to get all this somewhere.

 

„How could you?“ Romanov looked at Pavel with… almost disbelief. „How could you… of all people.“ It seemed that he really can‘t wrap his head around it and that was making Pavel even more nervous. He stood there, feeling small and weak under his stare, feeling like running, like dissapearing, all of his doubts screaming in his head one over the other.

He wanted to say something but… what was there to say?

„I told him from the first moment! That he shouldn‘t have took that fucking little savage in,“ Polzin was maybe losing blood, but definitely not his animosity, in fact it was quite opposite. „But no… Oh no, he had to. But what is born into chaos like a wild animal won‘t become human. No matter how good you train it, it‘ll be always just a barbarian,“ he bitterly spat on the ground, not even looking at Pavel.

„All these years… You‘ve been the most loayal comrade, you… You out of everyone should have known what privilegium you have. You should have been grateful and now… this is what you do?“ anger began to grow into Romanov‘s face too.

With every word, Pavel felt more and more helpless, he felt like dirt under their boot, like a disgrace, and he never wanted to feel that again.

„You father would have been sick of you, you-“ Before Polzin could have continued with his certainly passionate speech, Leonid nodded, losing his patience, and one of his soldiers pulled the trigger.

Pavel jerked and stepped back, his own hand twitching, and for the moment, he thought he lost his nerves and he was the one to do it.

„Tch,“ Romanov chuckled and it seemed that the death of his comrade did absolutely nothing with him. „You couldn‘t even shot him himself. Look at you… You‘re disgusting. You‘re not even real man,“ he looked straight at Leonid, trying to broke something in his with his cruel look but young man knew what they‘re gonna say and how they‘ll gonna act long before they even first spoke.

 

Artyom bitterly chuckled, making remaining two men look at him. „With all of these years you live here… with the experience from before the war, you should be the ones to have wisdom. You don‘t. Being man doesn‘t depent on your ability to kill. That doesn‘t make you a man,“ Artyom looked Romanov straight into his eyes and for a moment there, it felt like in a way, he got his respect because of how firm and brave he was, and how he said it.

But then… it was back to normal again. Romanov shook his head and with a gritted teeth looked to the ground.

„You young, stupid little boys want the Metro for yourselves? You wanna play kings? Take it then. You‘ll doom yourselves and you know it….“

Pavel was the only one on whom the words had any effect – he felt his stomach turn and sweat dripping on his back. What if he was right? He had to keep asking himself. He had to play all the memories of his father in his head, over and over again, looking for the proof he was wrong, or otherwise – whatever that will give him answer.

„Are you satisfied, Major Morozov?“ When he said his name again, he felt like throwing up, hardly looking up at Romanov. „What did they promised you, huh? Money?“ he stressed how absurd it is for him. „Higher position? Before all this… I thought you had potential. If I had knew that that great, loyal soldier will change into a traitor… All the times you oh so proudly and convincingly emphasized what true, real communist you are...“

„I am!“ Something snapped inside Pavel, he could almost feel it happen, and he aimed his gun to Romanov‘s face. „I am Red, I‘ve always been and I will be ‘till the day I die!“

His hand was shaking, his voice raspy and faltering yet angry.

„So that‘s why you grossly betrayed us? You became just little, dirty whore of theirs. You know that under Leonid‘s rule, there will be chaos and all the true principles of communism will dissapearel and all of that just thanks to you.“

 

„You‘re wrong...“ Pavel whispered through his clenched teeth and Artyom could clearly see his patience running out, his musles tensed, last dripps adding to everything else and Pavel‘s finger slowly sliding down the trigger.

Romanov wanted to say something else but he did not get that chance. Bullet to the head silenced him once and for all and before his last remaining ally could react, Yakovlev was put down too by Hanza, same as other two Red Line soldiers.

After that, all of the men were just standing there in painful silence, looking over the dead bodies.

„It‘s done...“ Artyom quietly breathed out and carefully looked at Pavel, who was just staring into the ground with his hand still slenching the pistol.

„It is...“ Leonid seemed… slightly melancholic from the whole situation too. „It‘s done… Now… There will be still a lot of work ahead of us but now… We have the change to make… Red Line better. To revive it,“ he nodded to himself, giving himself courage, and as his last words were louder and louder, remaining soldiers joined, shouting „Red Line Revived!“ several times like a chant, their voices proud and… happy.

 

„Pavel?“

He quickly stepped back when he felt Artyom getting closer.

„Are you alright? We… we survived. I told you,“ he tried to make it at least a little better with warm smile but he wouldn‘t even look him into the eye.

„I… I need…. Need a minute,“ Pavel finally get out of him and fled to the side tunnel. Artyom wanted to go after him but stopped, unsure… what to do. He knew all the things they said probably made Pavel feel confused and hurt. He was glad… He didn‘t turned on him but yet it seemed that he‘s not exactly on board right now either.

„I‘m still suprised you convinced him,“ Leonid spoke to Artyom because he was standing just few steps from him. „He was… always one of them. In fact, had the situation been different, I would have guessed he would be one of those bodies lying there.“

„He‘s… He‘s a good person,“ Artyom tried to find words to describe something he himself wasn‘t sure of. He was sure Pavel was good person, yes, but it was… a lot more complicated than that.

„I see it now. I need to go and check on the soldiers back there,“ he quickly turned to the tunnel where they first assaulted them. „This… went smoother than anticipated. I cannot imagine how would we do this without your help.“

„Well… I wouldn‘t be there without you. Remember?“

When Artyom asked, Leonid immediatelly simpered. It seemed… kind of nostalgic to him. It was so long ago and things were so different. That time, he did something insane and scary, something he never expected he would actually do and now… Now it actually came back to him. It paid off. Because good things always pay off.

„I guess that makes us even,“ he smiled at Artyom and Ranger smiled back.

„I have to… I have to go check on him,“ he couldn‘t help but constantly look to the tunnel with worried eyes. He couldn‘t just let Pavel there alone in that state.

„You should. You‘re a good friend, and a good man. We will talk more later. I make sure nobody disturbs you. I‘m sure… Major Morozov has his struggles but I hope… we can work this out. Having someone like him… It would help us. I would help me. He would be valuable ally, and big help,“ the ended it with a little plea and Artyom gave him assuring nod right back – he was going to bring Pavel back and he was going to remind him what‘s right. He was.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAW, play the music! Sexual scene in this chapter is the reason I began writting this fanfic. I wrote this while being bored at work after fanatically playing Metro Last Light for days and it was supposed to be just some smut shortie, but now I am so happy what has became of it! I just can't write short stories, I need building and then payoff and this is what this story is. I hope you'll enjoy, I'll be posting last chapter last after this one, so there will be some more bragging at the end of that, I hope you'll enjoy!

Artyom walked through the long, dark service tunnel, following Pavel just by the sound of his steps and fast, loud breathing. He was the only one illuminating his path with light on his gun – Pavel haven‘t had time for that, he just recklessly walked and walked, sometimes stumbled over something and curshed, but still continued.

Artyom knew he has to calm him down. He can‘t let him have some kind of breakdown, not now.

„Pavel,“ he shouted, listening to his own worlds echo in the silence.

„Let me fucking be, chuvak!“ he got harsh reply after few moments and it didn‘t seemed like Pavel was stopping.

„Come on, please...“ He sighted. Pavel gets a little too warm-blooded sometimes, he kind of knew that, but there was no time to let him cool down – especially if that meant he can think about what happened a little too much and change his mind somehow. „Please, just stop...“ Artyom pleaded with soft, calm voice. Only when he made several another steps, he saw Pavel standing there as his light illuminated him, leaning to the wall with his hand, quickly breathing.

Artyom looked at him with sorrow in his eyes and slowly approached.

„J-Just _fucking shut up_ , Artyom!“ Pavel held one of his hands over his face and tried to calm down his breathing. Why was he shaking so much? Why was he so damn angry and scary and confused?

„I know I told you you won‘t have to see it, or do it. I‘m sorry you had to…“

„I didn‘t had to do it! I just did!“ he turned to him sharply. „Blyakha-mukha...“

„They just tried to unsettle you, mess you up.“

„Well they… fucking succeeded,“ he noted quietly.

„We did it, Pavel,“ Artyom slowly, step by step, moved closet to Pavel who watched him with doubt and fear. „ _Look_ ,“ he laughted. „ We made it, it was insane and we actually made it. From the beginning, when we are together… we can to anything,“ Artyom felt his words coming from deepered and deeper places but he didn‘t stopped this time as he usually would, no, he kept going further. „We escaped Nazi camp, we… were almost killed by a Demon and eaten by Watchers on the surface… We didn't killed each other at the Red Square, we helped Nadya and then Leonid... No matter what happenned in between or what were your… initial intentions, you were right – we‘re like Musketeers. _Only if there was two of them_ ,“ he smiled warmly when he was just one more step away from Pavel.

He stared at him, his body frozen and mind weak – every time he opened his mouth… Damn, every time Artyom opened his mouth, Pavel felt like he needs to listen, he wanted to hear more, it was so… calming.

 

Artyom decided… to do something, that he would usually think a lot more about, something that he wanted to do when the time is right, and now it most likely wasn‘t, but he… felt like doing it, so he kissed him.

He kissed Pavel, delicately holding his cheek with his hand. He felt him go totally stiff, all the muscles in his body all the way to his lips tensed, yet he was still able to taste them, slightly bitter, probably from the cigarette he had before they headed out to calm his nerves. Other than that they were soft and it… felt good, it felt oh so great. Artyom closed his eyes and kept kissing him, not getting much feedback but he wasn't stopped either. Only till the moment Pavel harshly pushed him away when he realized what's happening.

Artyom almost fell down on the ground and then made several steps back, catching his breath, same as Pavel.

„Wh….“ his eyes were wide with pure shock, which turned to clear and ballistic anger in seconds. „Blyadj!“ Pavel stepped back with his hands raised as he fully realized what just happened. „Shit… What the… _fuck_ , Artyom!“ his voice was trembling with anger.

„I… I‘m sorry,“ Artyom gulped, only now realizing he may have made bigger mistake than he initially thought. But… it felt so right. It felt like the right thing to do in that moment, it was what his heart told him to do. Now he saw he fucked up. Pavel was… shaken, shocked, angry - definitely not calmed down…

„Why the fuck would you do that! Fuck!“ he punched wall next to him, clearly not able to cope with that storm Artyom created in him.

„I thought… I thought you would… like it,“ he lowered his eyebrows when he realized he sounds like a damn idiot. Of course he wouldn‘t like it. He wasn't ready. „I‘m sorry, Pavel, it wasn‘t… the right time.“

„Time?! The fuck, you think I‘m into _this_ fucking shit, huh?!“ he turned to him with all of his fury. „You lost your goddamn fucking mind? After… All that just happened and now you‘ll start up with this bullshit to make everything even more crazy?!“

„I was just trying to make you feel better, I didn‘t… I didn‘t meant to-“

„Shut up, blin!“

„You‘re pushing me away, just like at the Red Square,“ Artyom tried to fight back, to open his eyes even through he knew Pavel is insanely angry at that moment and it will take a lot to at least calm down that situation, not to mention everything else. „You‘re pushing me away instead of being honest with me and honest with yourself!“

„Shut up!“ he took his gun out on Artyom but he didn‘t flinch. He knew… Pavel won‘t hurt him. „I'm honest, alright?! I told you I‘ll go with the plan – I did! I killed him, I shot him, they‘re dead! You should be fucking happy! You should go and celebrate with that suka, but no-oh no. Nooo Artyomichka, you'll rather do the biggest fucking bullshit you can do, huh?!“ Pavel threw the gun away but that didn‘t meant anything good – it only meant that he wants to use his shaking, clenched fists instead of bullets.

 

He was going _ballistic_. That wasn‘t good. But it may have been good turning point…

Artyom just stood there, trying to come up with a way to do it. He knew… he should be honest. Letting it go now and burrying it again, pushing it aside for another time… that wouldn‘t help anything. There won‘t be another time, there won‘t be better time than now. He had to be honest. Artyom knew that‘s something that‘s gonna throw Pavel off. He saw it on him… Every time he was honest with him, he saw it and he liked it. He wanted them to be equal, he wanted the truth but he wasn‘t able to admit the truth to himself.

„I did it, because… _Ah_ , they… He showed me, Pavel,“ Artyom said quietly.

„H-… Who showed… you what?“ There was already drop in the level of anger in Pavel‘s tone, making space for fear that started to crawl out of his chest.

„Look, I don‘t know why and… I don‘t know how, but one of the Dark Ones, they showed me… something from your mind. They showed me the thing that happened… in the showers, when you were younger,“ Artyom said every word carefully and slowly, studying Pavel‘s face. When his eyes changed and widened, he could see in them that Pavel _knew exactly_ what memory is Artyom talking about – he saw that fear and shame wash over his pale face as he relived it all again.

 

And right after that, as always, came only thing that could function as defense mechanism for him – anger. Wrath.

Rage.

„Y-You.... You let the fucking apes into my head?!“ he shouted, almost growled, and before Artyom had the slightest chance to react, he tightly grabbed his shirt and pushed him to the ground with swift move full of raw energy. „Y-You… You had no fucking right!“ Pavel punched Artyom right into the face with all of his strenght.

Shit, he thought as he realized this can end up real bad, but he didn‘t fight back. If anything, he deserved that pain. Pavel was right – no matter what valuable information they gave him, he just… ventured into his mind, into his memories and those were just his, he had no right.

„I know, I‘m s-“

„Bullshit! Just shut up!“ he wanted to hit him again but paused, realizing that he won't be able to stop if he gets too much into it, and that Artyom is the one under him, not someone he really wants to beat to death.

„I‘m sorry, Pavel,“ Artyom blinked as he tried to ignore the pain coming through his face. His nose got most of it but it wasn‘t broken, at least not yet. „I know… I know you‘re angry but you need to know that I don‘t mind, it‘s alright, it‘s alright if-“

„Enough!“ He hit him again with same ammount of force, to shut him up. „I said shut the fuck up, suka! Shut up, Artyom!“

He was shaking. His voice, his hands, his whole body, it was shaking so much, it didn‘t felt like his, all that pain and anger and confusion made his mind so chaotic and unbearable.

Before Artyom even said anything else, Pavel hit him again because it was the only thing that was letting some of the preasure out. It was only thing that made sense. 

Artyom‘s face was hot and slowly getting numb.

 

He turned his head to the side. Best thing… will be to just let him do what he needs to do, right? He didn‘t wanted to fight back. So he let Pavel kneel on top of him, holding his shirt with one hand, other one shaking, already stretched out and ready for another punch.

„Why are you letting him hurt you, Artyom?“ he heard confused voice. Artyom quickly blinked, trying to wake up in case he‘s sleeping. Was it just in his head? Yeah… The Little One... wasn‘t really there, but he felt his presence. „Oh,“ he sighted after a moment, without Artyom even replying. „I see now… There‘s yellow under the red. He isn‘t angry. He‘s... just scared...“

He was there for a reason, right? He knew The Little One is there for a reason. This was good. This was supposed to happen. This was what they wanted. 

„Kiss… Kiss me back,“ he breathed out, taking his only chance. He was hurt already, it didn‘t mattered anymore.

Another hard blow ended up on Artyom‘s face, this time maybe even stronger.

„I said _enough_!“ panic was pulsing through Pavel's body and voice. 

„Just do it, Pavel,“ Artyom softened his expression even more, to the point where Pavel couldn‘t find strenght in himself to hit again even if he wanted to. Desperately gasping, his whole body shaking, he just held Artyom by his vest as tight as he could.

Pavel felt so… tired. So _damn tired_.

He wanted to just let it all go.

He looked at Artyom – his green eyes were so calming, accepting. It felt like something he never experienced before. This feeling of welcoming. They were pulling him closer and closer and then after few moments… Pavel just gave up.

 

The second he burried his lips in Artyom‘s - without even thinking - his whole body relaxed. This tremendous weight started lifting from his shoulders and with every other deep, agressive kiss they shared, his heart got warmer and lighter. 

Artyom was careful – he knew anything that will be too harsh could send Pavel back into that fearful place, so he was just slowly and softly holding him at the back of his head, keeping him close, but not pushing. He was just… grateful it‘s happening at all.

The more control Pavel lost, the more pleasure his body wanted in return. He was still holding back – that thing making him doubt and hate himself all those years was still there, but with every kiss, it was getting weaker and weaker. And when quiet moan slipped from Artyom‘s mouth between their kisses, Pavel completely turned on that thing.

Without thinking, he swiftly started to unzip his pants because he couldn‘t wait single second longer. The urge was overwhealming him, burning him inside. Artyom noticed and immediatelly began to do the same with soft smile on his lips. He was happy, happy for him, happy for both of them… Just happy.

Pavel shivered when he felt his hot, twitching dick in his hand, already hard. For a second there, he hesitated – in that moment when his brain took control again. He‘s there, in a tunnel, on top of Artyom, kissing him, kissing _another man_. It felt… wrong, it felt so wrong, that‘s what that voice in his head said but it also felt so fucking marvelous…

 

Artyom realized how fragile this whole situation is and that the darkness around them is one of the few things letting it even happen - only if Pavel just feels the two of them, not have to think about seeing man below him, could he do that now, that was all he was ready for. But still… Artyom wanted this to be beautiful for him, so he carefully grabbed Pavel‘s hand and before he could even resist, he pressed their members together.

Sound that came out of Pavel was like a music for Ranger‘s ears. He smiled wildly, using Pavel‘s state of pure shock and pleasure to kiss him on the neck and slowly move with his hand, jerking both of them of. Artyom couldn‘t exactly tell, because he was holding Pavel‘s dick only over his hand on it, but he was able to feel that he‘s pretty thick. Just that fact turned him on even more. He wanted to see, to touch him more, to squeeze his ass and put his hand under his trousers... but that would be too much. He had to bear that in mind.

 

 _Everything_ was ‘too much‘ in that moment, in fact.

Pavel already felt pleasure rising to dangerously high levels, so he squeezed Artyom‘s shoulder, his body overwhelmed with sudden fear – he‘s gonna come, he‘s gonna come in front of him, in front of another man, it's gonna feel good and it‘s gonna destroy everything.

„Ar… Kh- Artyom, y-you have to-“

...Too late.

 

Pavel completely blacket out, head filled with his own moans, mouth wide open and his cum mixing with Artyom‘s as he still pressed their dicks tightly together.

After that, he just collapsed on Ranger‘s chest, both panting and trying to catch their breath. Artyom could feel wounds on his face starting to let themselves know, but it was in no way as strong sensation as that beautiful, post-orgasm warmth going through his body. It was long time since he had sex - or anything close to it - with a man, or even touched one, really. Didn‘t even realized how much he missed it…

„It‘s alright,“ he breathed out, putting his hand on Pavel‘s head and hugging him with the other one, when he heard his breathing calm down. „This is just... between the two of us. All… for one, one for all, right? Just the two of us...“ He couldn‘t let him realize what he did and run away, he had to make him feel safe and right. He didn‘t wanted this beautiful moment to turn ugly. 

Pavel was breathing slowly, paralyzed by his own thoughts and feelings.

What he felt… he was taught – or he convinced himself every day – that it‘s wrong, unnatural, bad. Disgusting… But he never felt so much pleasure, he never wanted anyone so damn bad, he never felt so loved like with Artyom‘s hand around him, orgasming together. Even now, the memory of his touch was _so_ …

„I sh-… We should go back,“ he said quickly and got up to his knees.

Artyom remained down, leaning on his elbows and carefully watching Pavel. When he looked down, he saw white stains on his vest and shirt. It really happened. He felt chills going along his spine thinking about it. It happened.

It couldn‘t have happened.

 

Artyom couldn‘t help but look down, in that moment when Pavel looked completely burried in his thoughts again, staring at him blankly. He finally wanted to see him fully, even through there was still minimal light in the tunnel, he could see at least a little. Pavel was maybe something over five inches. Yeah, it wasn‘t much against Artyom‘s good eight and a half but the Ranger was definitely not disappointed, not in the slightest. While Artyom was fairly thin, Pavel‘s was thick and sexy, at least he saw it that way. The more he looked, the more he wanted to touch and explore and…

When Artyom felt Pavel‘s eyes on his, he quickly looked up. His expression was strange – it looked like the Major can‘t quite believe that Artyom is looking so curiously at… him, at his dick. It was just so bizzare for Pavel, just the thought that he could be attractive to someone, to a man.

„I'm sorry for staring,“ Artyom sneered, looking playfully at Pavel, trying to light up the situation. It was only after he tried to hide painful grin as the wound on his face reminded itself that Pavel realized what he actually did.

„I-I‘m so sorry, chuvak,“ he lowered his voice as he traced dark spots on Artyom‘s face and watched his eye slowly bloat. He just… completely lost all self control. He didn‘t wanted to hurt him but he was so angry and scared and confused… He was the last person he wanted to hurt yet he was the one he took everything out on.

„It‘s alright, Pavel. It‘s… it‘s nothing. I‘m glad you… let it out. I hope it helped you a little,“ Artyom really seemed to take it lightly and not hold grudge against Pavel but he couldn‘t just accept that. It was too simple and there was still so many things he didn‘t understood.

 

„This, you… You didn‘t had to do this, chuvak,“ he let out shaky breath. He felt so stupid and so ashamed.

„I wanted to,“ Artyom said almost immediatelly. „I wanted to do it, Pavel. I‘m… I‘m sorry for before. I‘m sorry they showed me and that I looked without you knowing, I won‘t do it again but… Aren‘t you glad I did? I helped… You woul‘ve never told me and I would‘ve never done anything without you urging me. I‘m glad... I know. That you… like men. It‘s alright, it's okay.“

When he said it, Pavel painfully frowned and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm down his shaky breathing again. It still felt _so_ wrong to hear it out loud. It _was_ wrong. It was making him insanely scared that Artyom, or just anyone, knows. He still tried to remind himself what just happened and that he‘s alright with it but he could feel that disgust in his chest, disgust over himself and assurance that Artyom has to feel the same.

„You…. I-I saw you with the girl, with Nadya. You‘re not… fucked up like me, Artyomich, so how…“ Oh shit. He felt his cheeks getting hotter. Only good thing was he really couldn‘t see how they are turning red. Why was it so hard to talk about it for him? Maybe he felt… jealous, a little. Maybe he did in that moment back then, too. And it was just too hard to admit it.

„I… yeah,“ Artyom let out quiet laugh. „I‘m just a man, Pavel, Nadya was... _very_ seducing and I like women... I like… men too,“ he hesitated a little because alrough he wasn‘t ashamed, he wasn‘t used to saying it out loud either, truth or not.

Pavel looked at him with suprise. Never in his life he heard anyone say it, let alone blithely like that. Like it was nothing. Like it was normal…

„You‘re probably… just confused, chuvak,“ he turned his eyes away, feeling the shame crawling back. Artyom still liked women, he was normal. Maybe _this_ was just something he saw as fun or…

 

„I‘m not confused,“ Artyom told him with crystal clear tone and sat up. „I knew… I felt this since I was young. And then I had...“ Oh. He just remembered him and his chest got tight. Is that going to be first time in what – months, or years, when he‘s gonna talk about Eugine? „I had a friend. We knew each other since I can remember. His name was Eugine. We would… do almost everything together. Normal kid stuff, and then stupid teenager mischief, you know. Well we… uh, experimented,“ he smiled in a sad way as nostalgia weighted over him. „It was just fun and games. And you know… something that helps two teenage boys to not be so damn horny all the time. But I always knew Eugine just… liked the feeling, the sensation itself. It was something different for him than for me. I liked… men. And I know it‘s a lot easier if you can just move to the women and that‘s it, I understand that. I‘m sorry you had to… supress it in yourself for so long and had no other option, Pavel. You shouldn‘t have,“ Artyom finally looked back at Pavel, when he decided there was enough whining about past.

It was so strange. He never in his life had anyone to tell him they understand. He never had anyone to tell him it‘s okay and now when it was Artyom saying, it felt…

„T-Thanks, chuvak...“ he managed to say just that. He needed to… think.

„We should get dressed,“ Artyom smiled – it seemed that he finally managed to calm the situation down. He slowly got up and zipped his pants, while Pavel did the same – they didn‘t even realized they are there… like that. Good there were no mutants around, or people for that matter.

„I‘m really sorry for that, I um… I‘ll just say that….“ Pavel nervously looked at Artyom‘s face.

„I‘m okay. I‘ll explain to them. And this… we won‘t have to talk about it until you‘re ready. Till then, it never happened.“

„T-Thanks, Artyom,“ Pavel was looking at him still ablush but it really seemed that the whole situation was resolved and he felt actually so much lighter and better, he had no idea he can actually… feel like this.

„Now, let‘s go back to others. We‘ll probably go to Leonid‘s camp and discuss next moves.“

Oh yeah, it was still not over, there was still time to celebrate. Pavel nodded and slowly walked back behind Artyom.


	18. Chapter 18

It was incredible feeling to be coming back to Leonid‘s main camp hidden between the station victorious. It was admirable, what he made there and how he managed to make everything work. He grew up so much, Artyom thought when he saw him, with people around him, cheering and congratulating him. He had a long way to go before becoming real, good leader – it was not an easy position – but he already went so far from that boy he met first time.

Artyom and Pavel walked up to him and Leonid took them to a closed room with only few other people. There was Sergey – that man they already met, and few others he trusted.

„So... Now, when… the hardest part is mostly done, we have to discuss how we‘ll proceed,“ Leonid seemed understandably stressed, he knew very well that if he doesn‘t win the election, all of this was for nothing.

„Anna is already on her way here, same as other representatives. They‘ll help with the political parts.“

„I was never one for politics,“ Leonid chuckled and ran with his hand over his face.

„It‘s going to go well, don‘t worry,“ Artyom squeezed his shoulder and gave him supportive smile. Leonid was glad for his support, he respected Artyom and everything he did - he knew he may have been the one to help him escape that time, but without Artyom succeeding after that, he would have never been here in this moment. Everyone around him believed in him, maybe he had to believe in himself a little more, too. He went to his people to talk to them further, and Artyom turned to Pavel standing closer to the door. He seemed... a little broody.

  
„What‘s going on?“ Artyom stepped closer to him with his hands in his pockets. It didn‘t seemed that it‘s what happened in the tunnel that‘s the problem now.

„I don‘t know, I‘m just… thinking about what we just did,“ Pavel anxiously looked around the room and people in it. They were all so young. They just killed one of the most experienced soldiers and politicans in the Red Line and this kid was going to lead the stations? „W-We… helped _him_ to get into the lead. And we know that he… he will win the election, he will win with the people.“

Artyom frowned.

„You think it was a mistake?“

„Leonid‘s _good little boy_ , alright? But maybe… _too good_ , you know, d‘Artagnan? He‘s naive and unexperienced. Maybe it‘ll be better situation than with them, but it‘s not as easy to lead the stations as he thinks. It won‘t be sun and rainbows. Everything and everyon won't just bow down to him because he's young and sweet. There‘s… There‘s no way Red Line‘s gonna work like that, Artyomich.“

„Well, maybe you have to make it work. Maybe if Leonid is the leader, you can be his general secretary and use the old and new ways together,“ Artyom got that idea in that very moment and right then realized how perfect it is. „That‘s perfect opportunity, Pavel!“ his eyes lit up but Pavel was still highly skeptical.

„I‘m… I‘m just a Major, I‘m not...“

„But you know how things work. You‘ve been perfect Red Line soldier for your whole life. You understand the millitary side of it, you understand the Red Line. You can help Leonid.“ Artyom was so excited by the idea he wasn't able to see anything else. Putting Pavel on the Leonid‘s side would create perfect balance. Pavel could still feel like he‘s loyal to his original ideals – he could push Leonid, just a little, to preserve the original communist ideology and Leonid on the other side would show him frest way to look at things and if they worked together… they could create something new without chaos. They could create… order. As he always wanted.

„There‘s no way t-that‘s going to work...“ Pavel looked at Artyom with doubts, mostly doubts about himself, but then when he thought about it, he realized the Ranger is right, like most of the time. It made sense. It made sense but there was no way for Pavel to see himself in the lead, next to the Leonid especially.

 

„Listen,“ Artyom stepped closer to him with serious face. „This… is the Red Line after the D6, Pavel. There‘s a lot of things you‘ll just _have to_ make work. The situation is already so tense, people are unhappy and this… this can be the compromise _everyone_ needs. This can help Metro, this can help Red Line, this can help to create order, Pavel. Isn‘t that… what you want? You can help him, Pavel. You can help Leonid make things better,“ Artyom tried to really appeal to his good side, and he knew there is a lot good somewhere in Pavel.

He didn‘t seemed too thrilled, but he also didn‘t refused.

Pavel nervously looked at Leonid as he was talking with others and studied him. Since he knew him, he was just this boy, running from everything – it was simply near impossible to imagine him as a leader but still… he changed, he wanted to change and he was serious about it. He really wanted to help people and… his father didn‘t. Or maybe he did, but not in a good way. Pavel tried to realize what Korbut made him do and what they convinced him is a good thing for people and this on the other hand… He didn‘t have to be convinced that what Leonid wants to do is the right thing. He knew.

In a moment of hesitation, when Pavel tried to think of what to do, Leonid turned his gaze to him, feeling his stare.

He smiled at Pavel in very strange way he haven‘t seen before – he remembered that Leonid always looked at him with this… disgust. He looked at him like at what he was – he looked at him like on a sheep following orders of those mad men in the power. Now it was different, now there was respect and gratitude in Leonid‘s eyes. Maybe he just knew that without Pavel‘s help, this whole thing was most likely never going to end up with him as a winner, or maybe it was because he really felt respect for Pavel now.

Major looked down, his eyes unsure.

„Maybe… you‘re right,“ he finally pushed these words out of himself. „Maybe this is a good thing…“ Pavel looked back up at Leonid. No matter if it was going to work or not and if they‘ll actually help the Red Line, this was… the plan for now. And after all that happened, after all he has done, Pavel knew he has to work for it, he needs to give this new life a chance…

 

Either way, it was beginning of something big for everyone and for the whole Metro, no matter if people realized it.

Leonid Moskvin won the elections and became the leader of the Red Line, with Pavel as his counselor. Altrough there was still some resistance, and Nazi‘s didn‘t seemed to see it as the end of their disputes, it calmed down their relationships with Polis and Hanza. While Leonid tried with all his power to find that golden mean where people are happy while still staying true to the communist ideology, Pavel was gaining respect from the millitary, with help of few other allies, and began working on ways to minimalize their loses and tried to send more bullets to the hungry people than for the soldiers.

It was exciting, new time for the Metro – for the first time, the younger generation got into the lead which was going to show if they really can lead the Metro better than the ones from before war and if the new ways actually can change things for the better.

There was a lot of first times for everyone, especially for Artyom.

  
He saw his first child being born. He held Anna‘s hand as she pushed, her forehead sweaty and red, until he saw that little bundle of happiness before them. Doctor gave him on her chest and after hours of painful labor, Anna was smiling, same as Artyom, when she could finally touch these little fingers of that little beautiful baby, slowly calming down in her mother‘s embrance. Artyom kissed Anna on the forehead and carefully caressed the boy. It was moment he never imagined he will experience and it was simply beautiful...

As beautiful as other moments…

Like when they were lying on the bed in Pavel‘s room in Komsomolskaya, illuminated just with a dim light from old oil lamp. It was another first time, as Artyom moved his oiled up fingers in Pavel, trying to get him used to it even more than they already managed, putting third finger in. When he heard positive responce in the form of moans and groans, he took them out and gripped his own dick, making it as oily as possible for it to go in nicely. Artyom took his manhood and carefully placed it to the Pavel‘s entrance, pushing just a little.

„Relax, it‘s going to feel good. It‘s going to feel great,“ he promised him in a sweet voice that made Pavel shiver with pleasure, yet Artyom had still problems pushing himself further. „You‘re perfect to me,“ he whispered, moving his hand over Pavel‘s shaved head from the back all the way to the front, until he reached his face and traced his prominent scar with his fingers. „All of you,“ Artyom smiled and moved his other hand to Pavel‘s cock, squeezing it and rubbing the head with his thumb. All of it was more than enough for Pavel to blissfully moan and relax, making Artyom‘s penis slip deeper into him like a knife through butter.

 

„That‘s it, that‘s it,“ he happily reacted to Pavel‘s panting. „I‘ll be… carefull. I swear.“ He couldn‘t have go all the way, not the first time, even through he wanted. _O_ _h how much_ he wanted to be all inside Pavel and see him underneath, both of them completely joined.

„Y-You… can move, chuvak,“ his voice was weak and quiet, almost to the point Artyom couldn‘t hear him. „ _Sdelayte eto_ , Artyom.“ Oh god, it was turning him on so much when he spoke like that, begging him in that beautiful accent. Pavel was doing good in getting used to… all of this, he was definitely better than Artyom expected. He needed his time though. It all took a while, to erace all of those toxic thoughts he was made to think for his whole life. It took a while before he was able to look at Artyom after they kissed without quickly turning away. But he was quickly getting better in showing his feelings and letting him get closer. This was just one of those beautiful moments.

„Ugh, fuck… Yeah,“ he moaned into the sheets, lying on his chest with ass arched to give Artyom good access. He felt Artyom slowly filling him, making his cock ache and twitch. „O-Oh god, vy yebat' menya,“ his breathing intensified and altrough he still wasn‘t looking at Artyom, he was talking and that was a lot more than the Ranger ever wished for.

He was the quiet one most of the time but that didn‘t meant he haven‘t had those dirty thoughts Pavel cried out loud in that moment.

„You‘re so tight,“ Artyom whispered in a choked voice, his fingers firmly holding Pavel‘s ass cheeks. He was probably halfway in, maybe more. It was making him crazy. And when he reached down and felt Pavel‘s hard cock dripping with pre-cum, he knew he wasn‘t the only one. „I‘m… _Shit_ … I‘m gonna move, alright?“ Artyom asked him while trying to hold onto his self control. When Pavel nodded, he slowly moved his pelvis back and then thrusted back in, going a little further than before.

 

While fucking him, Artyom was touching every part of Pavel as he so loved to do. After these few months, his body got back into it‘s previous state – he had a little bit of a belly again, not too much, he was still muscular, but it was there and Artyom like him that way. His leg injury was getting better so Pavel was back to his former glory of capable Red soldier. When he was meeting Artyom in his new uniform, all proud and serious looking, Ranger wanted nothing more than tear it all off him and fuck him right there, which was basically what happened before this moment…

„M-More, Artyomka,“ Pavel begged after he took his hand of him just for a moment. „I‘m gonna-… Touch me more,“ his mind was in a haze, all he wanted was to feel Artyom and feel good, it was all he thought about for the whole day, like every day they were supposed to have their secret meeting.

Artyom smiled almost from ear to ear.

„As you wish, Atos,“ he kissed him on the cheek and grabbed his member again. It was taking a lot of self control and concentration from Artyom to think about not pushing himself all the way in while moving and stroking Pavel. Together with his sweet moans, he wanted to just forget everything and let it go.

„M-Mmhmm…. _Blin_ ….“ he cursed here and there, quietly, trying to hide his pleasure.

„Oh yeah, Pavel,“ Artyom kept thrusting faster, his usually calm and deep voice now colored with incoming orgasm as he felt climbing it higher and higher to the top but still tried to hold back just a little bit longer. Pavel was usually first to come – it was understandable with the way he had to supress himself for so many years.

„Blyakha, it feels so… S-Shit, Art… Artyom...“ Pavel desperately squeezed his hand.

„I-I know, me too,“ he pushed his half open mouth to Pavel‘s cheek, breathing hot air into his face as they both felt their bodies tremble and their dicks almost evenly ready to blow. And when they came, they fell tiredly to the bed next to each other, holding their shaking hands.

 

Once Pavel tasted how oh so beautifuly it feels to have Artyom next to him, and _in_ him, he never wanted to be without it again. They met just as often as their busy schedules allowed them to. Sometimes Artyom had a mission and Pavel had to deal with the Bandits, other times he had to help Leonid and Artyom was supposed to go and report something at D6. No matter what happened, they found time and met at one of their places, closing the door behind them and hugging tightly before giving each other heated kiss.

And things worked out that way. They were happy.

One of those many days, they ended up in Artyom‘s room again. Artyom just cleaned Pavel‘s face from white, sticky substance with his thumb with vicious smile on his face.

„You like it,“ he said playfully, slightly bitting his lip.

„Huh?“ Pavel looked up at him, still catching his breath, his cheeks red and dirty.

„When I cum on your face. You… You do it often. You like it, don‘t you?“ It was Artyom‘s little victory every time he figured something like that out. Pavel was a lot more open but he was still kind of shy in this sense so it felt nice to know what he really likes.

Pavel snorted and slightly ashamed turned his head. Well, he had cum all over his face and before that, he was sucking Artyom dick for good few minutes, so it was kind of hard to deny it.

„Sure I don‘t, shut up, Artomyka,“ he jokingly pushed him and timidly smiled. Artyom knew what he really thinks before Pavel said the word, so he just leaned to him and kissed him. After that, Pavel grabbed some towel lying next to the bed and cleaned his face with it while Artyom zipped his pants.

 

„How is Leonid, anyways? I didn‘t even had the time to ask, you jumped on me right when you came here...“ Ranger sneered at him.

„It‘s alright, um, you know, it‘s fine,“ he shrugged his shoulders. Pavel was learning to work with Leonid and it seemed that they slowly got used to each other. They discovered their beliefs aren‘t as different as they thought, it was just the way they went about it. But they found the middle ground and they learned to work things out – for the people and for the Red Line. „We‘re doin‘ pretty fine, yeah.“

„I‘m happy to hear that,“ Artyom smiled sincerely.

„How‘s Anna?“ he looked at him back, sounding a little bitter. Artyom already found out how insecure Pavel is when it comes to Anna – he was worried Artyom will realize he wants to be with her, with a woman, with their son, and even through he tried to hide it, it was clearly something that borthered him a lot.

„It‘s great,“ Artyom nodded and took Pavel‘s hand to calm him down, giving him that ‚come on, don‘t worry‘ expression. „She‘s acting…. _a little bit crazy_ right now – trying to work while taking care of the baby. Miller keeps telling her to take her time but she won‘t listen. But she‘s a good mother. She takes care of him well,“ Artyom smiled.

„I‘m sure you‘re good parent too, chuvak,“ Pavel sighted, lying back to him, leaning on Ranger‘s chest while he hugged him with his hands and kissed on the cheek again.

„You know, you should come to see him some time.“

„I‘m not sure if _she_ would be so happy about it,“ Pavel chuckled.

„She‘s gonna be fine, Pavel. She‘ll… get used to it, trust me. She will. Anna doesn‘t trust you too much still, but she will change her mind. She knows you‘re important to me and that you‘re actually helping now. She just needs time,“ Artyom was fondling Pavel‘s shaved head while talking.

 

„And does she… _knows_ …?“  
„No. Of course not. I haven‘t told her about us, as you wanted. Don‘t worry, alright?“ he made Pavel look him in the eyes. „I haven‘t told anyone. We‘ll wait until you are ready. I already promised you and I meant it. We will wait, as long as you want.“

Pavel sorrowfully smiled.

He felt stupid. He felt so damn stupid for making Artyom keeping this a secret but… he wasn‘t ready. He just wasn‘t ready for everyone to know yet. He loved Artyom and he loved what they had but this was just another step he needed a little more time for. It made things difficult, and he could see on Artyom that he wanted to just scream it into the world because how proud and happy he was but…

„Spasibo, chuvak...“ Pavel gently caressed his cheek. He couldn´t be more grateful for someone like Artyom. „I, um… I already told Leonid a-about us yesterday…“ he breathed out.

„Y-You did?“ Artyom looked at him with shock. „That‘s… That‘s great.“

„I told him, y-yeah. He keeps talking about trust and how we need to… work together, so I… did it. He seemed happy… for us, you know. He's nice guy. But it‘s all I‘m ready for now, d‘Artagnan,“ he squeezed Artyom‘s hand and pushed himself closer to him. „Just give me a little more time.“

„Of course,“ Artyom deeply kissed him, more happy about what he said than Pavel expected he'll be. „I‘m proud of you. Really.“

„Blin. How is it so damn late? 'Have to go to that meeting soon,“ he tiredly sighted when he noticed time on Artyom‘s watch as he laid next to him.

„Uh, yeah. We knew we won‘t have much time together today. I need to talk with my people too, when I get back,“ Artyom said but they still just laid there for few other minutes in silent embrance, enjoying the moment. „Just promise you‘ll come look at Portos soon, okay?“

„Tche,“ Pavel bursted into laughter while shaking his head. „Damn, Artyom. I _still_ can‘t fucking believe you convinced her to name him Portos. It‘s just… fucking marvelous,“ he immediately seemed to be in genuinely better mood just thinking about it.

Artyom grinned.

 

„Well, she doesn‘t _really know_ s about all this. And she better never figures it out, for all of our‘s sake,“ he laughted. „I thought it‘s… nice nod to… what we have. He may be my and Anna‘s son but… he‘ll learn how important you are to me when he‘s older. We will go on a lot of adventures together, the three of us. Like the actual Musketeers,“ he felt warmth in his heart thinking about it. „They may be my blood family but… you‘re my family too. That won‘t change. I don‘t want it to change, ever,“ Artyom warmly smiled and looked at Pavel in a way… that just screamed that he‘s so in love with him and every time he did it, it just touched Pavel‘s soul.

„You see, Artyom,“ he remembered something he meant to tell him for a longer time, „next time you talk with… those apes, just tell them… I guess just tell them I‘m glad they… fucked up my life the way they did. Okay?“ he said with thoughtful smile on his face, quite unusual for the Major. Artyom looked at him in shock for a few moments. Was he… grateful to them? Pavel? „But they better not get into my head again, ponimat'?“

„Do not worry,“ Artyom quickly kissed him. „They won‘t. I will tell them next time,“ he smiled at him.

„Alright,“ Pavel nodded anf after another moment finally got up with unhappy sigh. He didn‘t wanted, but it was already time. „Gotta go, Artyomich. I… promise I will meet our little Musketeer soon, khorosho?“ Pavel stretched out for his shirt and then turned back to Artyom to give him a kiss. He just laid there, looking happy, with no worry in the world, at least for a moment.

„Alright.“

„I‘m sure he‘s handsome. Will be real heart breaker when he‘s older,“ Pavel chuckled for himself when he was getting dressed. He didn‘t want to admit it but no matter how complicated situation was, he was… happy with how everything ended up. Everything was in a right place and he never felt that good in his life.

 

Life in the Metro definitely still wasn‘t perfect.

There was no way of saying when‘s the next big threat gonna appear, be it mutants or humans… But for the first time in Artyom‘s and Pavel‘s life, they got into the point where their current situation was the most important, because it was wonderful and perfect and no matter what, they were just gonna protect and preserve it as long as possible.

They had each other, after all of the struggles and suffering, they had something they could cherist, something they didn‘t wanted to loose.

And maybe that was just the thing they really needed, everyone. People living in a broken world, surface destroyed by the radiation, maybe all of the people really needed bright future to look fowards to, to keep their darkest side hidden, to stop more bloodshed.

Maybe that was what Dark Ones really wanted them to understand. No matter why they did what they did, no matter why they kept helping Artyom, if it was for him or just for humanity itself, he was grateful and he was going to repay it to them for the rest of his days.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go! THE END. Prepare for the nostalgic crap I'll write down. I know this is just stupid fanfiction, but it's my first bigger fanfiction (before this, I only really wrote 1 DA fanfic and one Tomb Raider one which I'm trying to continue now, but the point is it was crap) and probably biggest story written in english. I've written "books" and trilogies in my language, but writing in english was quite the journey and experience and altrough I am pissed that it will never be as good as in my native language, I am happy I finished this and I am mostly happy about all the amazing feedback, comments and kudos! I feel like that sometimes while reading fanfiction, I see these stories with thousands of hits and dozens kudos and I feel like it must be daily bread for these people, but for me, literally every single kudos and even the hits count. I am so grateful and happy someone red this and even liked this. It's just the main thing I love about writing - when people read the story, it's like it makes it real, it makes it alive and that's what I want! 
> 
> Thank you all again, I would be happy if you read some of my other works, I'm really into Fallout 4 now so, you'll be able to see that, huh. Other than that, I really don't plan any other Metro Last Light fanfiction, I wrote eeeverything I wanted to show in this one and I am incredibly happy, this is my canon now and nobody tells me different! ♥


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